<p>Stakeholders have unanimously resolved that cashew nuts should be processed in the country ahead of exportation following a two day gathering to convene on the status of the cashew nut sector in the country.At the meeting, held at the Julius Nyerere International Conference Centre in Dar es Salaam lat last week, stakeholders were warned that, Tanzania’s cashew nut sector is doomed to fail should traders continue exporting the produce in its raw form without any value addition.</p> <p>In fact, the country has already lost all its international markets save for India, the last remaining importer of raw cashew nuts.Calling the moment ‘ripe’, Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Maria Bilia, advised local and foreign investors to cooperate in the formulation of strategies to improve the weakening cashew sector particularly through set up of processing plants in the country.</p> <p>“On this closing session and on behalf of the government, I call on all you to work together to optimize our potential and turn the cashew industry back into a lucrative investment sector,” she urged.“Processing cashew nuts creates fair competition allowing for balanced trade…without adding value to raw cashew nuts, it is impossible to have balanced trade in the sector,” she went on to say adding that with interventions from both financial and technical institutions such as NSSF, EPZ, DSE and NMB as well as other stakeholders, the goal can be achieved.</p> <p>Regulatory bodies, including the CBT and Tanzania Warehouse Licensing Board have also indicated willingness and commitment to support value addition of cashew nuts.“There are many challenges facing cashew nut production and processing in Tanzania. But with the confidence shown during this two-day conference you have overcome the challenges existing on the sector and explored all situations through strategic partnerships and collaboration between farmers, investors and the government,” Bilia summarised.</p> <p>Themed: “Invest in cashew processing for job creation and economic growth” the two-day conference was organised by the Agriculture Non State Actors Forum (ANSAF) in collaboration with the Agricultural Council of Tanzania (ACT), Cashew Board of Tanzania (CBT) and Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC).The conference attracted about 150 local and foreign participants from various sectors to develop strategy to identify and solve challenges that currently face Tanzania’s cashew industry and thereby increase opportunities to support the growth of small holder farmers.</p> <p>The conference discussions focused on optimization and realisation of the true potential of the crop and sector that employs among the poorest communities in Tanzania.At the moment, Tanzania is losing US$ 110 million annually from exporting raw cashew nuts. It also loses 45,000 jobs that would otherwise employ numerous women and youth.The ANSAF Executive Director, Audax Rukonge, said the conference resulted from a study it commissioned in collaboration with the Agricultural Council of Tanzania (ACT) in which they reviewed the regulatory environment for the cashew nut sector aimed at finding interventions necessary to put the sector in its rightful place in the economy.</p> <p>For many years Tanzania’s cashew sector has been under-performing despite the presence of many factors necessary for the development of a thriving cashew nut producing and processing industry.The sector has been successful in producing cashew nuts but not to levels of development. This is taking into account the product quality and seasonal advantages present.</p> <p>Currently the fate of cashew farmers in Tanzania is in the hands of Indian merchants. These have built big warehouses in their country to store the commodity. Stakeholders point out that if it is not a profitable business the merchants would not be coming to Tanzania to buy raw cashew nuts for export.</p>