0 Tech transfer to Africa could kill Vietnam’s cashew industry

A plan by the HCM City University of Technology to export cashew processing technology to Africa has faced strong opposition from Vietnamese officials, who believe the move will kill one of Vietnam’s important industries.
A few days it was announced that the HCM City University of Technology has signed a contract on transferring cashew nut processing technology to Africa. The information was confirmed by Vinacas, the Vietnam Cashew Association, which said the project was signed at a cashew processing equipment exhibition, Sietta 2014, held at Abidjan in Ivory Coast.
Nguyen Van Lang, former chair of Vinacas, who was a high ranking official of the science ministry, said: “As the father of the Vietnamese cashew processing technology, I strongly protest against the technology transfer to any country.”
Lang warned that the move will seriously affect the 1,000 cashew nut processing workshops, companies and 300,000 Vietnamese workers in the cashew industry.
Vietnam is now the biggest cashew nut exporter in the world, ranking second in processing and third in material area. The cashew exports bring $2 billion a year to Vietnam, and are one of the key export items of Vietnam, including garments, oil and gas, and rice.
Nguyen Duc Thanh, chair of Vinacas, emphasized that Vietnam would not be able to stand high among the leading cashew processors and exporters in the world if it did not have modern technology. Thanh noted that countries lust for made-in-Vietnam technology, even countries with the longest histories of cashew processing like India and Brazil.
Lang warned that exporting cashew processing technology will “bring danger”, because the technology is a great advantage for Vietnam.
Meanwhile, African countries, including Ivory Coast, the country with the largest cashew area, specializing in exporting raw cashews, will become formidable rivals of Vietnam, once they master the processing technology.
Source: vietnamnet.vn

Tanzania earns $589,000 from cashew export in one day

Tanzania has earned $638,067.85 (Sh1.08 billion) from raw cashew nut export in one day, data have established.

The data from the India-based Seair Exim Solutions Information for Business show Tanzania exported 526.26 tonnes of the raw cashew nuts to India on December 24.

The Indian ports which had received cashew nut cargo from the sailed ships from Tanzania include Vizac Sea, Mangalore and Cochin Sea.

The director general of Cashew nut Board of Tanzania, Mr Mfaume Juma, said the amount of shipped cargo to India is part of more than 170, 000 metric tonnes of raw cashew nut shipped to India this year.“We have shipped huge cargo of cashew nuts. We are now closing the season. Right now there are still farmers selling cashew nuts in various auction markets,” said Mr Juma.

He also said there were also more cargoes of cashew nuts at the ports for export to India as the Asian country is the biggest market for Tanzania’s cashew nuts.

Tanzania is in the process of mobilising millions of smallholder farmers to cultivate cashew nuts as the global demand for cashews is growing, according to report circulated by the International Trade Centre (ITC) in September 2014.

The ITC said to begin with, an agreement was signed in August this year between the government-owned Commission for Science and Technology and the Mkinga District Council in Tanga Region to revive the crop.

“The soil fertility in the area is good for cashew tree cultivation. The project provides small-scale farmers in the selected four villages, many of which are women, with technology on cashew farming under the guidance of trained extension officers and experts from Naliendele Agricultural Research Institute in Mtwara,” reads part of ITC report.

Source: http://asokoinsight.com