<p>The first-ever cashew festival and Expo 2013 has opened in Accra, with an assurance from the government to support the industry with a stimulus package. ccording to the Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, who gave the assurance, the move was to support stakeholders in the cashew industry to improve production, processing and export of the commodity.</p> <p>The four-day festival, organised by the African Cashew Alliance (ACA), is expected to help cashew farmers, processors, traders, exporters, service providers, retailers, equipment manufacturers and bankers to fashion innovative ways to improve and sustain the industry. Over 450 participants from 50 countries are taking part in the conference, which is on the theme; “Value Chain and Gains-Focusing on the Potential to Leverage Profit in Each Sector of the Cashew Industry in New Markets”.</p> <p>The conference will also give the farmers the platform to explore innovative business prospects in areas such as beekeeping and production of cashew-apple juice. Mr Iddrisu said the government remained committed to roll out a divestiture of the cashew industry to promote growth and sustainability, adding that the government would provide the appropriate incentives to enable their businesses to thrive.</p> <p>The incentives, he said, would include tax holidays, the free zone enclave instrument and assurance to repatriate profit. In his address, the acting President of the Ghana Cashew Industry Association, Mr Windfred Osei-Owusu, called on financial institutions to facilitate access to credit for cashew farmers to enable them to expand their businesses.</p> <p>He said cashew farmers were credit-worthy and were noted for 100 per cent loan repayment. Mr Osei-Owusu said this was because they were well-organised, had well-established markets, enough local processing capacity, strategic linkages in the value-chain and interventions of government through the cashew development programme (CDP).</p> <p>According to him, the CPD had been implemented by the government to improve living conditions of cashew farmers and their households to enhance food security and increase foreign exchange earnings. Mr Osei-Owusu said stakeholders in the industry expected that Ghana could add 25,000 metric tonnes of processing raw cashew nut to the current 27,000 metric tonnes of processing capacity to enable the country to become the biggest processing-capacity country in Africa.</p> <p>He called on members of the association to abide by ACA’s code of conduct which included respect for food safety, environment and fair price for farmers.</p> <p> </p>