Mozambique cashew sector to receive EUR 2 million support from France

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Mozambique cashew sector to receive EUR 2 million support from France

1:43 CAT | 20 Jun 2018

File photo: Notícias

Nearly two million Euros will be invested over the next three years in programmes aimed at developing the competitiveness and the economic, social and structural sustainability of cashew producers in Zambezia province.

The Cashew Development Institute (INCAJU) and the French Development Agency (AFD) have launched a project in Maputo to support the value chain of cashew in Mozambique which, in addition to supporting farmers directly, provides for the institutional strengthening of INCAJU to create a more transparent information system on the market, with a view to facilitating the integration of Zambezia producers into the international market.

Speaking during the launch of the programme, INCAJU director Ilídio Bande explained that the partnership between his institution and the AFD dates back several years, with “very positive” results and impact.

The project builds on the desire to consolidate cooperation between INCAJU and AFD in the design and implementation of support actions for the cashew subsector.

AFD regional director Martha Stein-Sochas recalled that agriculture was the first sector in which AFD intervened in the country in 1983, supporting the cotton value chain. France then supported the coconut sector and the rehabilitation of the Chókwé irrigation system. At the end of the 1990s, the agency supported the cashew value chain, which made it possible to strengthen INCAJU’s capabilities, a structure that had just been created at the time.

“With the launch of this new project, I am proud to see AFD continue to support the iconic cashew sector. I would like to thank INCAJU for the quality of the partnership that has been established with AFD, and which has enabled this project to benefit Mozambique and its thousands of small cashew producers,” Sochas said.

Support for producers includes the implementation of a pilot project to be developed in partnership with the non-governmental organisation NITIDAE, on the outskirts of the Gilé National Reserve, in the Gilé and Pebane districts of Zambezia.

Félix Paulo, inspector general of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, pointed out that in the 2017-2018 marketing year, cashew production reached 131,000 tons, of which 48,000 were processed in Mozambique.

Cashews are the main source of income for about 1.4 million families. Currently, the cashew subsector employs about 14,000 people, with Zambezia the third largest cashew-producing province in Mozambique.

Source: Notícias