‘Nigeria could earn over $200m from cashew export’

Juliana Agbo, Abuja

NIGERIA could earn over $200 million (N72billion) yearly from cashew nuts export, stakeholders said.

The stakeholders stated this at the Cashew Stakeholders Export Summit  in Abuja.

They listed the  factors affecting export to include  poor link between actors in the value chain, old age of most trees, deforestation, low-yielding varieties, dominance of small holdings and dependence of most farmers on wild varieties.

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They also listed land acquisition problems, high cost of inputs, climatic conditions, disease, pest and fire outbreaks, high post-harvest losses, infrastructural constraints, quality and unstable market conditions and lack of access to adequate financing as the factors affecting export.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Alhaji Sabo Nanono, who was represented by Hajiya Karima Babangida, said the government was aware of the challenges facing the cultivation and processing of cashew and promised that drastic action would be taken to address them.