Inhambane province: Cashew nut producers expect a yield worth 834 million meticais – report

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Inhambane province: Cashew nut producers expect a yield worth 834 million meticais – report

10:11 CAT | 04 Feb 2022

Image: Governo Distrito de Mabote

Cashew nut producers in Inhambane province expect to bring in around 834 million meticais [ around US$13 thousand] from the sale of 19,400 tonnes of the cash crop in the current marketing year.

Of the amount to be sold at auction, 13,300 tonnes come from Mabote, Funhalouro, Homoíne and Panda districts, the largest producers of cashew nuts in the province, accounting for 68.6% of the province’s total crop.

The sale of cashew nuts at auction is a newly adopted strategy designed to encourage the cultivation of this cash crop and create opportunities for potential buyers to source the best quality product in the country.

The province hopes to surpass the goals of the previous campaign, in which around 17,000 tons of cashew nuts were produced and sold, generating more than 572 million meticais.

The Secretary of State in Inhambane province, Ludmila Maguni, who led the first cashew nut auction on Friday in the district of Homoíne, said she hoped that the new marketing strategy would address constraints previously faced by producers.

Maguni added that the start of the sale of cashew nuts by auction, and initiative introduced by the Mozambique National Institute of Nuts, was a response to the high transaction costs borne by producers and sub-standard control of real production and sales volumes at home and abroad.

The president of the Mozambique Commodities Exchange (BMM), Victória Paulo, present at the launch of this strategy, considers the holding of the first auction a milestone in the country’s history and, in particular, for the province of Inhambane, creating opportunities for the commercialization of this culture in a fair and transparent way.

In the purchase and sale of cashew nuts, the producer was the main beneficiary, Victória Paulo said.

Benjamim Adriano, representative of the National Institute of Nuts in Inhambane province, explained that stakeholders now had the opportunity to negotiate the price of cashew nuts depending on the quality of the product.

Producers who offered higher quality product would attract a higher price and earn more income, he explained.

A message from producers stated that the auctions would significantly improve their lives, as they would have the opportunity to negotiate prices with buyers depending on quality.

Three major cashew nut buyers and several traders from the province participated in the first auction, which dealt with around 120 tonnes of nuts from Homoíne, Panda, Funhalouro and Mabote, with a reference price of 43 meticais[US0.67] per kilogram.