Africa
THE President of the National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN), Prince Ojo Ajanaku, has attributed lack of finance has a major setback for the growth of the cashew sector in the country.
Ajanaku said this on Tuesday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
The NCAN president said that there was a need for investors both in the private and public sectors to invest financially because of the economic benefits it poses for the country and farmers.
Ajanaku said that at the last 2023 NCAN stakeholders meeting held in Benue four main ideas were put forward on financing to help the growth of the sector.
He enumerated the finance options to include NEXIM, which according to him has a product called Export Development Fund that could be used to establish one cluster per state based on comparative advantages.
Also, state governments should collaborate with NCAN to develop cashew clusters using this product.
He said that First Bank of Nigeria Plc., had also initiated moves to work with NCAN to develop cashew export and would engage NCAN on the specifics of this proposal in the first or second quarter of this year.
It was also suggested that NCAN should consider floating its microfinance bank that could be used to mobilise funds to finance the activities of its members.
Ajanaku said that governments at all levels could fast-track the growth of the sector by investing in cashew processing factories or clusters to be managed by private sector actors via suitable Public-Private Partnership (PPP) models or even sold-off to the private sector.
The NCAN president also recommended research into cashew development to further enhance the growth of the industry.
He stated that the association would be advocate for the setting up of a Cashew Research Institute or the renaming CRIN to Cocoa and Cashew Research Institute of Nigeria (CCRIN).
According to him, there is a need to conduct a national cashew survey to support research efforts, and also critically look at the emerging negative effects of climate change on cashew production.
Ajanaku said because of the low level of cashew processing in the country there was need to ramp-up processing of cashew.
“Nigeria should not allow market forces to play out without restraint. That is why it is important to put policies in place,’’ Ajanaku said. (NAN)
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Tags: NCAN Prince Ojo Ajanaku
