The country has the capacity to generate over $1billion earnings from the export of cashew nuts and other commodities annually, The Nation has learnt. Speaking at a pre-listing event of Agvest Limited, a player in the agricultural value chain in Nigeria, experts observed that with over 14 states of the federation involved in the planting of cashew nuts, the country was literally sitting on a cash cow as they highlighted the opportunities in the cashew value chain. Nigeria is the fourth largest producers of cashew nuts worldwide. Addressing journalists at the event the Managing Director of the Lagos Commodities and Futures Exchange (LCFE), Mr. Akin Akeredolu-Ale, noted that Nigeria had opportunities to earn robust income from cashew nut. “Nigerian cashew sector is dominated by smallholder farmers. Numbered at about 25,000 and some commercial plantations, with an average cultivated area of 325,000 hectares, local processing industry is growing gradually while there is a significant rise in export due to increased awareness of export potential and processing opportunities. Other actors in the ecosystems include local buying agents, processors, exporters, and service providers. “The challenges around the production and processing of cashew in Nigeria mainly centre around the primary production of cashew from aged trees. Thanks to scientific research, there has been a substantial improvement in seed varieties that have introduced improved varieties which present primary production efforts need to take advantage of the meet the improved quality requirements of the international market,” he said. ADVERTISEMENT The Chairman, Mega Group, Mr Sam Onukwue expressed optimism that LCFE would transform the commodities ecosystem and put it on the global map. He attributed one of the challenges that raw exporters face to inability to repatriate their fundsback into the country. Speaking earlier, the Managing Director, Agvest, Mr Olabode Abikoye, while addressing journalists on Tuesday, explained that proceeds of the offer would enable the company to get both its plantation and factory up and running in West Africa at the first instance. According to him, Agvest will commence with cashew aggregation on the spot market, issue exchange traded notes in the medium term and add value. “Our decision to list Cashew Nut contracts on the LCFE is to enable private investors enjoy the benefits of quotation. We shall by this approach support the governments drive to generate foreign exchange. We have 210 hectares of land as plantation in Iwo, Oyo State and we are working closely with Oyo State Investment and Public Partnership Agency (OYSIPA) to activate our plan. “As a listed product, our cashew shall always meet international standard as prescribed by the International Standard Organization (ISO) which requires good temperature, moisture level and grade. Many stakeholders in the commodities value chain in Nigeria operate in silos. One of our company’s functions is to integrate the stakeholders in the value chain,” Abikoye said.