August 07, 2019
After the first edition held in Burkina Faso, the African Cashew Alliance (ACA), in collaboration with African cashew sector actors in Mali, is organizing the second edition of the Sahelian Cajou Forum (FOCAS) at Azalai Hotel. Bamako (5.6 and 7 August 2019) on the theme: "improving the competitiveness of the cashew value chain in Sahelian countries".
Images by IT
The opening of the work was made by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Lassine Dembélé, in the presence of the Mayor of Commune III, Mrs. Djiré Mariam Diallo. .The overall objective of the forum is to facilitate the sharing of experience between Sahelian cashew producers and to feed the reflections on the measures to be taken to better organize and support the sector for the benefit of the entire value chain. West Africa.
Specifically, it is for the participants to evaluate cashew production in the last five years in the Sahel region and to identify in particular the potential of this sector for the case of Mali; to raise the awareness of Sahelian players concerning the opportunities for professional and competitive transformation, as well as the economies of scale to achieve in diversification; develop a strong organization and a chain spirit between and within the various links cashew value chain;to understand the importance and the role of public-private dialogue in the management of cashew nut production in the Sahel, by learning from the experiences of neighboring countries.
The president of the Interprofessional of the Cashew Industry in Mali (IPROFAM), Ibrahim Togola, justified the choice of holding the forum on Cashew. " Despite the many efforts of development partners to promote the cashew nut sector, it still faces many challenges. Among these challenges, we note the low yield per hectare, the quality of the raw nut insufficient, the weak organization of the actors, the weak implication of the public sector in the development of the sector. In addition to these challenges, there is the deregulation of the raw nut market due to the lack of a national internal market regulation mechanism, the difficulties of supplying domestic processing units with raw cashew nuts, the lack of access to raw nuts. working capital of the processing units for the purchase of the raw material, the exercise of the marketing activity of the unprocessed nut by non-professionals, the absence of registration of the buyers and presence on the stakeholder market occasional outsiders who often practice on-shore shopping ". According to him, the cashew nut industry, adds the Iprofam's president, Ibrahim Togola, has suffered a lot this year because of an unexpected drop in raw nut prices. This, he says, because of dysfunction in the sector in particular, the low rate of transformation in our countries and the difficulty of mobilizing internal financing from our national financial institutions. This makes, adds Ibrahim Togola, the chain entirely dependent on international buyers who set prices at their own free will. This situation has made that walnuts, he says, have gone from 600 Fcfa edge field in 2018 to less than 80 Fcfa this year in some parts of Mali.IPROFAM, says Ibrahim Togola, thanks ACA, for agreeing to host FOCAS by Mali. At the same time, says the president of IPROFAM, we ask to assist us in the training of our actors and strengthen the partnerships we have signed between our institutions.
To cope with this shortfall by the Malian state, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Lassine Dembélé, recalled that special attention must be given to the consequent increase in production and productivity of yards and especially to promote the local processing of cashew nuts. Cashew production, according to Lassine Dembélé, was about 100,000 tons in 2018 with yields ranging from 250 to 400 KH / HA. However, he says, the local processing rate remains below 10%.
ACA President Florentino Nanque recalled that one of ACA's goals is to advocate for sector and partnership improvement.FOCAS, he said, is dedicated to discussing issues of common interest to Cashew-producing countries in the Sahel region, as well as to thinking about what needs to be done to better organize and sustain the sector for the benefit of the entire value chain. Cashew, Flerentino Nanque said, is nowadays the second most important agricultural export product of Mali after cotton, according to the Ministry of Commerce. In terms of job creation, he continued, cashew production mobilizes nearly 50,000 farm households and creates 2,000 direct jobs, of which more than 90% are for women in the processing sector.
For three days, experts and participants will discuss panels such as: the evolution of cashew production in the Sahel region: state of play, potential and market trends, overview of the evolution of cashew production in the sub-region and prospects, new techniques and research to improve and increase production in the Sahel region (grafting, polyclonal seeds, etc.), the importance of food safety and certification to ensure a quality product and competitive; the cashew nut sector - a political sector? How to organize the private-public dialogue and create a common framework for good governance. More than 200 actors from Mali and countries in the sub-region are there to share experience.
Hadama B. Fofana (The Republican)
No comments:
Post a Comment