Mozambique cashew industry to provide 19,000 jobs this year

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambique cashew industry to provide 19,000 jobs this year

7:59 CAT | 26 Jan 2017

The national cashew nut processing industry hopes to provide nearly 19,000 jobs this year across the country in the commercialization of its 120,000-ton 2016 crop.

At present, Mozambique has 33 cashew nut processing units, two of which are out of action for technical reasons. In order to guarantee the availability of raw materials, the factories have cumulatively bought 47,000 tons of nuts.

Commercialization occurs in the last quarter of each year and industrialists take it upon them to ensure that there is sufficient raw material for normal operations the following year.

Mahomed Yunuss, president of the Mozambican Association of Cashew Industries (AICAJU), says that the amount of raw material processed by members in 2016 exceeds the total volume of product marketed by about 17,000 tons.

According to Yunuss, increased availability of raw materials for processing has resulted in more job opportunities, with the cashew sector last year employing only about 12,000 workers. He adds that the growth of employment opportunities in the cashew industry should be a signal for the sector to increase production volumes, once it is clear that there is a market for the product.

In addition to improving quality of life, employment in the cashew processing sector will allow the state to broaden the tax base, its main source of revenue.

The marketing of cashew nuts was officially launched in October last year at a purchase price of 80 meticals per kilogram, a figure which fell to 50 meticais by December. Nampula province is the largest producer of cashew nuts in Mozambique, followed by Cabo Delgado, Zambézia, Inhambane and Sofala.

Source: Noticias