Tanzania's Vice-President Philip Mpango said on Friday the country processed 70,000 tons of cashew nuts locally in 2022. "This is the right step towards giving additional value to the cash crop," said Mpango at an event he represented President Samia Suluhu Hassan to award best local manufacturers held in Dar es Salaam. He said the processed cashew nuts was an increase of almost 100 percent compared to 34,000 tons of the cash crop that was locally processed in 2021. The file photo shows a farmer holding harvested cashew nuts in Imekua village near Mtwara city, southeastern Tanzania, Sept. 24, 2020. (Xinhua) The processing of cashew nuts went in tandem with the production 55,000 liters of cashew nuts shell liquid that were exported abroad, Mpango told the award giving ceremony jointly organized by the Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade, and the Confederation of Tanzania Industries (CTI). "The processing of cashew nuts locally and the production of cashew nuts shell liquid are steps to be proud of as a nation. Let's increase the pace and process 100 percent all cashew nuts produced in the country to give them value addition than exporting raw cashew," he said. In May this year, the Cashewnut Board of Tanzania (CBT) said it targeted to raise cashew nuts production to 400,000 tons during the 2022/23 farming season from 236,213 tons that were produced in the 2021/2022 farming season.