Tanzania: Cashew Industry Gets Sh30 Billion Boost

November 16, 2015

Dar es Salaam — About Sh30 billion has already been allocated for the construction of three cashew nut factories which will help to boost country's processing capacity of the second largest export cash crop.The factories that are planned to be built in Mtwara, Mkuranga and Tunduru will save the current 80 per cent of Tanzania cashew nuts exported in raw form and deny the country's opportunity to create employment, collect revenue through some taxes and enable farmers earn more from processed cashews.Each factory will have capacity to process 10,000 tonnes of cashew nuts per annum and assure farmers with high returns when their produces are processed locally before exporting. Cashew nut Industry Development Trust Fund (CIDTF) will fund the construction of the industries.Acting Chairman, Cashew nut Board of Tanzania (CBT), Mr Mudhihir Mudhihir told the press yesterday at the sideline of 3rd International Cashew Conference held in Dar es Salaam and brought together 140 participants from 22 countries that the construction is waiting some activities to complete."We had planned to start the work October this year but the designs are yet to be completed," he said.

According to Mr Mudhihir, Ardhi Universality (Aru) was contracted to work on the designs while the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) was working of the best approach of operating the industries.The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Cooperative, Sophia Kaduma told participants from countries like Ghana, Malawi, India, Kenya, Benin, Australia, Pakistan, Mozambique and Burkina Faso that Tanzania is very concerned with low processing capacity and that is why effort is in place to increase local processing capacity.Ms Kaduma informed the participants that cashew nuts will be the first crop to benefit from the Commodity Exchange Market which was launched recently by the retired president, Jakaya Kikwete."We will only have to link the Receipt Warehouse System to the Commodity Exchange Market to ease marketing activities of the crop," said Ms Kaduma.

Source: http://allafrica.com/storie