The 2023 Nigerian National Cashew Day and Flag off Ceremony, and the Stakeholders Meeting on Developing National Cashew Policy

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Held on 24thand 25thJanuary, 2023 respectively at Protea Hotel,Benin-city, Edo State, Nigeria as a two-day contiguous event. 

The event was organized by the National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN) in partnership 

with Federation of Agricultural Commodity Associations of Nigeria (FACAN), African Cashew 

Alliance (ACA), Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), and Federal 

Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI); with the support of Edo State Government, 

Kogi State Government, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) fundedPRO

Cashew (West Africa Cashew Project), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit 

(GIZ) GmbH funded Competitive Cashew Initiative (ComCashew) / Market Oriented Value Chain 

for Jobs and Growth in ECOWAS (MOVE), and Anamero Foundation. 

Attendance for both days was 176 persons. 

These included executives and members of NCAN 

drawn from across the Nigerian nation;Governor of Edo State (represented by the State 

Commissioner for Agriculture);Governor of Kogi State (represented by the State Commissioner 

for Agriculture);representativesof FMARD and FMITI;state government officials from Edo and 

Kogi States;the President of ACA;the Presidentof FACAN;a cross-section of cashew value 

chain actors (farmers, processors, traders and exporters);representatives of development partners, 

Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN), Nigerian Export Import Bank (NEXIM), Nigerian 

Export Promotion Council (NEPC), commercial banks, the general public;and members of the 

Nigerian press. 

The theme of the event was “Industrializing the Nigerian Cashew Sector through Inclusive 

Policies”. The activities of the first and second days were largely ceremonial and technical 

respectively. The main items on the agenda were:

Day 1 (24thJanuary, 2023) -National Cashew Day and Flag off Ceremony

•Singing of the Nigerian National Anthemand commencement

•Opening address by the 4thNCAN President, Hon. Prince Ojo Joseph Ajanaku

•Goodwill messages / remarks from Governors of Edo and Kogi States (ably represented by 

their respective Commissioners for Agriculture), FMARD, FMITI, ACA, FACAN, First 

Bank of Nigeria Plc., Julius Berger (Cashew), Sonata, Pro-Cashew, NEXIMetc.

•Keynote address by Edo State Governor(ably represented by the State Commissioner for 

Agriculture)

•Unveiling of the Cashew Calendar by Governors of Edo and Kogi States (ably represented 

by their respective Commissioners for Agriculture) supported by other dignitaries present 

to officially flag off the 2023 cashew season; and Group photographs

•Remarks from participants (represented by NCAN Chairperson, Benue State and FACAN 

Coordinator, Edo State)

•Presentation of awards to Governors of Edo and Kogi States, PROCashew,GIZMOVE, 

FACANPresident, …………………

•Vote of Thanks by NCAN Vice President 

Day 2 (25thJanuary, 2023) -Stakeholders Meeting on Developing National Cashew Policy

•Presentation: Membership Database & Digital Reporting Portal (DRP) for National 

Cashew Association of Nigeriaby Mr. Princewill Amaefule, Galactron Systems Ltd

•Presentation: Nigerian Cashew sector: policy review in global contextby Mr. Roland Oroh, 

on behalf of PRO-Cashew and MOVE

•Panel discussion1: Analysis Of Nigeria Cashew Sector:Policy Environment,Gaps And

ProposedRecommendations moderated by Mr. Roland Oroh

•Presentation: Export Trade Finance and SME Finance for the Cashew Value Chainby 

First Bank Nigeria Plc.

•Short messages from MOI Food Nigeria and The Nigeria Incentive-based Risk Sharing 

System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL)

•Panel discussion 2: NigeriaCashewSectorNeedsAndPolicyReview moderated by Mr. 

Roland Oroh

•Comments from participants

•A road map to action / Next Steps by Mr. Solomon Enebi Agamah, Event Rapporteur 

•Voteofthanksby NCAN Vice President 

•Singing of Nigerian National Anthem andclosing

Key issues from the event for consideration in cashew policy formulation

1.The importance of agriculture and the cashew crop as the main stay of the Nigerian 

economy was acknowledged, and the contributions of players in the sector applauded.

2.The current national cashew outputs, in terms of Raw Cashew Nuts (RCN), kernel and 

other products are far below the potentials of Nigeria and unacceptable. Stakeholders 

affirmed their commitment towards working together under the leadership of NCAN to 

improve the situation.

3.The theme of this year’s National Cashew Day and Flag off Ceremonyis apt because a 

national cashew policy is considered necessary for the desired growth of the cashew sector. 

4.The efforts of Edo and Kogi State Governments (gingered by the strong political will of 

the Governors of both states) in growing agriculture and the cashew sector were 

acknowledged and applauded. 

5.The roles of PRO-Cashew and GIZ-MOVE, the leading development partners supporting

NCAN and the cashew sector were acknowledged and applauded.

6.Itis important to consult widely, conduct needs assessment,and focus on rootcauses of 

challenges / problems before policies are enacted to mitigate the possibilities of unintended 

consequences. 

The process of developing the national cashew policy should start afresh as previous efforts were not consultative enough. 

NCAN is appealing to the Minister of 

Agriculture to disband the committee said to have been formed on cashew policy and to constitute another committee under the leadership of NCAN, being the umbrella 

organization for cashew stakeholders. 

This was applauded by stakeholders unanimously. 

NCAN President will write to the minister in this regard.

7.All stakeholders should be sensitized on the need to improve ethics among the cashew 

value chain players, especially in the areas of produce adulteration / quality control, 

pricing, and all other matters pertaining to honesty while dealing with each other. 

8.The recently approved policy preventing foreigners from buying produce at farm gates 

should be enforced for the cashew sector.

9.The level of cashew processing is too low in Nigeria (and other African countries). The 

need to rampup processing has become a necessity as the prospects for RCN export trade 

is not looking good because both Vietnam and India are slowing down their purchase of 

RCN from Africa. There may be glut in the RCN market if the export window crashes and 

the local processing capacity remains at 10% of RCN production or less. 

10.To stimulate cashew processingand general growth of the sector, there is need to massively 

invest in cashew clusters (i.e. industrial estates / parks/ hubs)and warehousing facilities 

(i.e. aggregation / collection centres); develop a digital database and map of stakeholders 

for ease of doing business; develop contracts between producers and processors / off

takers; and encourage local consumption of cashew kernel / other products. 

In his opening address, the current President of NCAN indicated that the association (under his watch) 

will promote these activities as part of its strategic focus. 

11.Currently, the Nigerian cashew sector is regarded as lightly regulated. While activities 

should be driven by market information and trends, Nigeria should not allow market forces 

to play out without restrain. That is why it is important to put well thought policies in place. 

Nigeria should be looking at Vietnam and Cote de’Ivoire as role models and inspiration on how to grow the cashew sector; and also as competitors in cashew trade.

12.There should be regulations on key issues like (minimum) cashew quality, packaging, pest control, pricing, taxes / tariffs etc.; and an agency to coordinate activities along the cashew value chain, similar to the Cotton and Cashew Board of Cote de’Ivoire.Currently, 30 -40% of Nigeria’s exportable RCN is said to be lost due to poor quality. 

13.Access to finance is a major drawback to the growth of the cashew sector. Fourmain ideas 

were put forward on financing. 

Firstly, NEXIM has a product called Export Development 

Fund which can be usedto establish one cluster per state based on comparative advantages. 

State governments can collaborate with NCAN to develop cashew clustersusing this product. Secondly, First Bank of Nigeria Plc. (which now wants to be focused on non-oil exports) wants to work with NCAN to develop cashew export trade, and will engage 

NCAN on the specifics of this proposal in the first or second quarter of this year. Thirdly, 

it was suggested that NCAN should consider promoting its own microfinance bank that can be used to mobilize funds to finance the activities of its members. Lastly, governments (at the federal, state and local levels) can fast-track the growth of the sector by investing in cashew processing factories and / or clusters to be managed by private sector actors via suitablePublicPrivate Partnership (PPP) models oreven soldoff to the private sector. 

14.The roles of research in growing the sector were discussed and CRIN actively participated in this regard. In his opening address, the current President of NCAN indicated that the association will be advocating for thesetting up of a Cashew Research Institute or the renaming of CRIN to Cocoa and Cashew Research Institute of Nigeria (CCRIN) to underscore the importance of research to cashew development. CRIN is aware of the challenging issues such as poor peelability ofsome RCN varieties and working on them. 

Thereare also the need to conduct a national cashew survey to support research efforts, and the emerging negative effects of climate change on the cashew production which was 

confirmed by farmers in the audience. However, the institute is constrained by poor funding. 

15.Nigeria should be targeting the production of at least 700,000 Mt of RCN annually by 2030, and the promotion of improved varieties and vegetative propagation can help in meeting this target. In his opening address, the current President of NCAN indicated that NCAN 

will work with its partners to promote the distribution of 22 million seedlings across the 

nation,including none commercial volume producing statessuch as Kebbi, Jigawa and Gombe. There should also be a corresponding increase in RCN processing from the current 

10% or less to higher targets. NCAN can get large parcels of land from state governments, 

aggregate the production activities of members, and enter into contracts with processors / offtakers to achieve desired growth in the cashew sector.

16.Logistics and export documentation processes should be made easier to reduce the 

timelines of export trade. The current situation is so bad thatsome offshore importers are shifting their RCN sourcing from Nigeria to other countries, e.g. Cambodia. Setting up dry ports and one-stop export desks can help resolve this. The NEXIM Sea-link project will 

also help when eventually operational.

17.The local consumption of cashew kernel can be promoted through the school feeding program and the inflight meals of airlines.

18.Nigeria has an emerging opportunity to take some share of the international kernel market 

but needs to go into cashew processing equipment manufacturing to effectively compete 

with Vietnam. Nigeria can also target supplying such equipment to other African countries as they are also looking towards increasing RCN processing too. 

19.Nigeria should also consider trading in other products derived from RCN processing such as the Cashew Nut Shell Liquid and Cashew Apple which are becoming valuable too. 

20.NCAN can potentially be positioned to play leading roles in growing the cashew sector 

based on the various issues raised, but the association has to be supported tobecome 

institutionalized as the apex cashew stakeholder associations. The development partners 

should take up this challenge. 

This event marks the commencement of an elaborate process towards getting a widely acceptable

National Cashew Policy for Nigeria. In this regard, the key next steps announced at the close of 

the event are: 

•A detailed report of the proceedings will be prepared by the Event Rapporteur and made 

availableto NCAN and its key partners in the next few weeks.

•NCAN and its key partners will commission the drafting of a National CashewPolicy for 

Nigeria as a follow-up to the report.

•When ready, the initial draft National Cashew Policy will be presented to stakeholders 

(within the private, public, and development sectors) across the country for their inputs, 

buy-in / ownership and ratification. 

•The final draft National Cashew Policy will be presentedto the Federal Governmentof 

Nigeria through FMARD and FMITI for adoptionand official presentation to the Nigerian 

public.

Representatives of participants commended NCAN, FACAN, ACA, PRO-Cashew, GIZ-MOVE, 

Edo and Kogi State Governments, FMARD, FMITI, other Federal and State Government 

Agencies, farmers, processors, traders, other participants, staff of Protea Hotel (Benincity),and 

the general public for supporting the event;and calledfor action on the issues raised without delay.

Signed by the PRO,NCAN Wordshot Amaechi Ugwele .