In our words

Krishanu Chakravarty, Chief of Party

We are excited to share with you the progress we have made during the first four months of 2023. Our team has been busy stitching together collaborations with industry actors in Cote d’Ivoire, while our team in Nigeria has signed more MOUs and we have finally started meaningful action in Ghana.

Over the last two and a half years, we have learned that capability building, access to market, and access to finance are the keys to unlocking sustainable transformation in the cashew industry. However, we also recognize that innovation is necessary to bring about a paradigm shift, through Prosper Cashew project which is funded by USDA Food for Progress program.

We are thrilled to report two large deals in the matchmaking space where Oiko Credit approved a total of USD 6 million in loans to Cashew processors. Lenders value the technical assistance provided by Prosper Cashew, and processors gain from the financial intervention at critical junctures. Processors from Nigeria traveled to India to explore various equipment available for processing and setting up of Cashew Nut Shell Liquid (CNSL) unit, while the team from Usibras Ghana visited the Cote d’Ivoire cashew industry to learn from the success stories of processors.

While access to technology, market, and finance are qualifying criteria to participate, a conducive local processing ecosystem provides the enabling conditions. Without local technical skills to take care of equipment breakdown, local processors’ perennial dependence on skilled technicians from outside the region would remain a stumbling block.

Therefore, we have collaborated with CITA to build a cohort of technicians to address the engineering skill gap. This step is a huge leap of faith towards change and has the potential to create a significant impact in the industry.

Finally, promoting the contribution of women in the cashew industry is critical to bringing about sustainable transformation. We witness exemplary success stories whose voices are lost in the cacophony of complex issues in the industry. We highlight these narratives to inspire women to be a part of the change.

In conclusion, we have been trying to inculcate the industry’s best practices in the West African region. However, we ask ourselves, is the best practice enough? Should we not keep our eyes on the NEXT practice? If so, where do we get our path-breaking ideas from? We look forward to working together to address these critical questions.

Have a good read!