The Regional Director of Agriculture and Rural Development of Kabadougou, Prospère N'Guessan Kouamé, wants an increase in the volume of cashew processed in Odienné and calls on the agro-industrial group SITA, active in the locality, to work there during the 2023 campaign. Three other factories are expected in Odienné, but the Ivorian cashew processing company (SITA) operates, for the time being, alone, in Odienné, in the processing of cashew nuts that it exports to the United States. of America (USA) and in Gulf countries. It absorbed, during the financial year in 2022, 2,978 tons of cashew out of 39,876 tons produced in the department of Odienné, i.e. 7% of production. “It is already to be welcomed but at the level of the regional management, we wish that this rate can go to 25%â€, expressed the first official of the local administration of Agriculture, during the launch of the cashew 2023 campaign. of SITA, Saturday 11 March. M Kouamé recalled the government's ambition to achieve by 2030 to transform 50% of national production. Processing and product quality remain the major challenges in the cashew sector after Côte d'Ivoire has managed to rise to the top of the producing states since 2015. At the end of the 2022 campaign, 1,028,172 tons of cashew nuts were recorded, of which 719,900 tonnes were exported in raw form. A volume of 224,036 was processed, i.e. 21.8% of the total marketed production. The President and CEO of SITA, Massogbé Diabaté wife Touré, urged all staff to take ownership of the call of the Regional Director of Agriculture and redouble their hard work. "We must exceed the performance achieved in 2022. I will do everything to make this happen," she said. SITA, for the launch of its 2023 cashew campaign, opened its doors to the general public. Many populations thus took part in the ceremony, led by the administrative and customary authorities, in particular the Secretary General 1 of the prefecture of Odienné, Albert Tra Bi Bah, representing the prefect and the canton chief of Kabadougou, Bakary Touré. The ceremony was also an opportunity for the boss to celebrate her staff and salute their dedication. “The best workersâ€, in particular, were rewarded, in a spirit of celebration of excellence. This, in the context of International Women's Day 2023.