<p></p><p>EXIM Bank Tanzania has set to support the cashew farmers in Mtwara with a 200m/- investment to bolster the industry productivity during 2018 season. The bank said they decided to give the sector a jam on arm after seeing a significant growth in production and sale prices which is a move to improve the livelihoods of the farmers.</p> <p>The bank's Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr Jafari Matundu, said in an interview that they have been supporting the cashew nut farmers and exporters for many years by providing seamless financial services. </p><p>"We have had a presence in Mtwara for many years now supporting farmers and exporters by providing them with innovative financial products and services to support and grow their businesses," the Deputy CEO said. </p><p>Currently, the country exports over 350,000 tonnes of raw cashews, which is an increase of almost 100 per cent from previous years. </p><p>The bank said they are working with farmers through the Agricultural Marketing Co-operative Societies (AMCOS) in Mtwara and Tandahimba. </p><p>The AMCOS is an effective platform that supports farmers with production, processing, transporting and marketing of various cash crops including cashew. </p><p>"With the increase in export and sale prices we saw fit to increase our loan portfolio to enable farmers increase production and quality of their products and therefore increase their earnings through their sales," Mr Matundu said. </p><p>The farmers need support on all farming stages, currently, they need backing on harvesting stage for buying bags, paying labourers until the product finds buyers. </p><p>The bank has been operating in the country in the last two decades which also saw expanding to Comoros (2007), Djibouti (2011) and Uganda (2016).<br></p><p></p>