[Kenya]: State gives Taveta farmers 4,000 cashew, coconut seedlings

June 28, 2019

The seedlings distributed on Wednesday will be planted on 100 acres.

• Project is a partnership between the national and county governments.

• Official says another 20,000 grafted cashew nut seedlings will be given to farmers.

A businessman hawks coconut fruits. 

Image: FILE

More than 400 coconut farmers in Taveta subcounty, Taita Taveta county, have received free coconut seedlings to boost production.

The 4,000 seedlings distributed on Wednesday will be planted on 100 acres.  

The project is a partnership between the national and county governments through the Agricultural and Food Authority under the Directorate of Nuts and Oil Crops.

Agriculture and Irrigation chief officer Boniface Mwavula said the seedlings will increase the acreage under the plant from 180 to 220 acres.

"This programme aims at ensuring food security [and] is in line with the Big Four agenda. Our commitment is to promote, increase the production and productivity of oil crops such as macadamia in the highlands and coconut and cashew nuts in the lowlands," he said.

Subcounty agricultural officer Charles Omondi said the region is the main producer of coconut in the county, with an average yield of four tonnes per acre.

He said another 20,000 grafted cashew nut seedlings will be distributed to farmers.

Rozina Mnene, a beneficiary, praised the two governments for initiating the project. She said coconuts are a viable project as she sells produce worth Sh10,000 per day from her two pieces of land.

"I am a widow, this crop has helped me see my children through school. Right now I am taking care of my grandchildren using profits from coconut," Riziki, who has been a coconut farmer for 20 years, said. 

Edited by R.Wamochie 

Source: The Star Kenya

[India] Kollam: State seeks sops for cashew sector

June 28, 2019

In addition to this, the minister also demanded to hike the export incentive to compensate the price margin of import.

Mavelikkara MP Kodikkunnil Suresh on Thursday raised the issue faced by cashew sector in the Lok Sabha. He demanded the Central Government to announce a package worth Rs. 1,000 crore to revive the cashew industry in the State.

KOLLAM: The State Government has filed a petition before the Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal demanding to revoke the import duty on raw cashew kernels completely and to increase export incentives of processed cashew. The Central Government should come forward to revive the cashew industry and find a solution to the issues faced by the industry in the State, demanded Cashew Minister J. Mercykutty Amma.

"The import duty should be completely exempted for the processers to procure raw cashew kernels for a fair price. The import duty has been recently brought down to 2.5 per cent from an earlier 5 per cent. However the Government should take initiatives to revoke the duty completely," the minister added in a press note.

In addition to this, the minister also demanded to hike the export incentive to compensate the price margin of import. The incentive is currently fixed at 2 per cent which should be hiked to at least 5 per cent to support the industry, she added.

Mavelikkara MP Kodikkunnil Suresh on Thursday raised the issue faced by cashew sector in the Lok Sabha. He demanded the Central Government to announce a package worth Rs. 1,000 crore to revive the cashew industry in the State. Mr. Suresh also pointed out that the employees are even denied EPF benefits due to the crisis in the industry. Kollam MP N.K. Premachandran also pointed out the crisis faced by the industry in the Lok Sabha.

The Central Government had recently hiked the minimum import price that would prevent flooding of kernels in the local market which in turn supports the price of indigenous processed product. The minimum import price of broken kernels has been set at Rs. 680 from an earlier Rs. 288 while that of whole kernels, Rs. 720 from Rs. 400.

Reporters

Source: DECCAN CHRONICLE

[India]: Five get life term for Odisha’s journo’s murder

June 28, 2019

Berhampur: Five people, including the owner of a cashew processing unit, were sentenced to life imprisonment by a Ganjam trial court on Thursday for the murder of a 35-year-old journalist, five years ago. 

Images by IT

A sixth accused is yet to stand trial as he is absconding. Tarun Acharya was killed on May 27, 2014, after his report on child labour being used in a local cashew processing unit appeared in an Odia newspaper. 

His body was found the next day, in a pool of blood, with his throat slit near Khallikote. “My brother was killed by the owner of the cashew processing unit because of he exposed the use of children there,” said his brother

Tapas Acharya, who himself is a lawyer. “We are happy that we get justice after five years,” he added, and appealed to the police to arrest the absconding convict. The additional district and sessions judge, Srinibash Pratihari, found all five accused - P.Shyam Sundar Prusty, owner of the cashew unit, Sibaram Nayak, Suresh Chandra Sahu, Santosh Moharana and P. Ramesh Reddy— guilty of the murder. 

Nursingh Charana Panda, the sixth accused, is still at large. 

Prusty, the owner of the cashew processing unit was arrested 10 days after the murder. He had hired three goons from Berhampur, including Moharana and Reddy, to eliminate Acharya, sources said. 

The crime branch took up the investigation on the direction of the high court and the prosecution produced 47 witnesses, which led to the convictions, special public prosecutor Santosh Kumar Mund said. 

Journalists welcomed the verdict. ‘It is not only a victory for the family members of the deceased journalist, but also a victory for the entire journalist community,” said Rabi Rath, state president of National Journalist Union (India). 

The Odisha Union of Journalists president, Prasanna Mohanty, said they had taken up the issue with the state government. The government was forced to order the probe by crime branch due to the demand of journalists. “We are happy as the criminals involved in the murder got their due punishment,” Mohanty said.

By Hrusikesh Mohanty 

Source: The Times of India

[UK]: Dekeloil Swings To Annual Loss As Palm Oil Prices, Production Falters

June 27, 2019

Dekeloil Public Ltd said Thursday it swung to a loss in 2018 as a poor harvest ...

Images by IT

Dekeloil Public Ltd said Thursday it swung to a loss in 2018 as a poor harvest season led to a drop in crude palm oil production and prices.

The West Africa-focused agricultural company said pretax loss for the year stood at EUR3.2 million, compared with profit of EUR1.7 million the year before. Revenue dropped by 30% to EUR20.9 million from EUR30.2 million.

The average crude palm oil selling price for 2018 was EUR542 per tonne, down from EUR680 the year before.

Production-wise, Dekeloil's Ayenouan palm oil project in Cote d'Ivoire dropped by 15% to 33,077 tonnes of crude palm oil from 38,736 tonnes the prior year, due to a poor region-wide peak harvesting season in the first half of 2018.

Meanwhile, the company said it is progressing with the development of the Tiebissou cashew processing project also in Cote d'Ivoire.

So far, Dekeloil has acquired an initial interest in the project, and has secured an option to raise this to a majority interest.

Looking ahead, Dekeloil said it expects its 2020 financial performance to see a "material increase" in revenue and profitability from its palm oil business, as well as a contribution from its Tiebissou cashew project.

"As previously reported, 2018's unseasonably weak peak harvest and cyclically low global CPO prices conspired to end the run of record full year results we had maintained since our admission to AIM in 2013. Although CPO prices are yet to recover, 2019's peak season saw yields materially increase and as a result, pressure on FFB costs has to a material degree subsided," said Executive Director Lincoln Moore.

Shares in Dekeloil were down 3.8% at 3.08 pence on Thursday.

By Dayo Laniyan; dayolaniyan@alliancenews.com

Source: Alliance News

[Cote d'Ivoire]: Ivory Coast wants more young cocoa farmers thanks to common price floor

June 25, 2019

In Côte d'Ivoire, the government is betting on a renewed interest in cocoa cultivation among young people thanks to the minimum price of $ 2,600 per tonne that it is currently negotiating with Ghana and stakeholders in the industry. That's what Bloomberg reports quoting the Ministry of Commerce.

Images by IT

According to Souleymane Diarrassouba, in charge of the portfolio, the average age of producers is now around 50 because of the preference of young farmers to cultivate more profitable crops such as cashew, rubber, cotton and the oil palm.

Currently, the producer guaranteed floor price is almost 30% lower than the price that was in effect three years ago. "The new generation must be attracted to the industry. The higher cocoa prices, the more farmers will improve their incomes. There is no chocolate without cocoa farmers, " says Diarrassouba.

On the expert side, it is believed that this optimistic view could hide a much more complex market reality. Indeed, according to some observers, if the floor price were to be adopted unanimously, it would indeed push for renewed interest, but in the short term.

In the long run, there may be overproduction in many countries, which would pull futures prices down. This could ultimately discourage some farmers or even encourage the major producing countries to reduce the minimum price to be in line with the market.

As a reminder, the cultivation of cocoa is carried out by nearly 800,000 farmers in Côte d'Ivoire.

Hope Olodo

Source: Agence Ecofin

[Cote d'Ivoire]: Purchase of cashews: Since Luénoufla, the regional delegate of the Conseil Coton Anacarde (CCA) reassures producers

June 27, 2019

An operation called TNT, initials of the Vietnamese group that signed an agreement to buy more than 200 thousand tons of cashews in Côte d'Ivoire, was launched throughout the national territory in order to buy all production at the price set by the Ivorian government which is 375f CFA / kg.

Images by IT

The regional delegation of the Séguéla Cotton Cashew Council (CCA), which covers the regions of Haut Sassandra and Worodougou, has begun the purchase of the cashew nut at a price set by the government of 375 f / kg. It began in Gbétogo, a village 52 km from Séguéla where the agricultural cooperative society of Daloa (CAD) in charge of the purchase of the production at the level of this delegation was able to buy 60 tons of cashew at the fixed price.

In the department of Daloa, it is the village of Luénoufla located in the sub-prefecture of Bédiala which housed this group sale where CAD has procured 28 tons of cashew nuts at the same price.

Bamba Losséni, General Secretary of the Daloa Agricultural Cooperative (CAD), said the goal of the program is to enforce the official price of buying cashews in the field: " We started Séguéla today Today, we are in Luénoufla and we will be in Touba to buy all the production at the price set by the Ivorian government , "he said.

Inviting producers at the same time not to be discouraged and continue the collection of their products, he reassured them about the sale of their production, "nothing will stay in your hands. All your production will be bought. We are going to rake all the camps, the villages, the sub-prefectures until there is nothing left in your warehouses . "

He also appealed to buyers who continue to buy the product below the minimum price. " No one is above the law and all those caught in the act will suffer the rigors of the law, " he warned.

Desperate to win, Touré Vazoumana, a cashew nut producer who did not leave his field because he was disappointed by the price that some buyers offered him, namely 75 f or 50 f / kg, did not hide his joy after all his production. was bought at 375F / KG by the CAD " This is good news for us. We did not expect this action.That's why, we thank the government and the cotton cashew council for thinking about us producers. "

It should be noted that this measure of purchase of the field price of cashew nuts at 375f / kg is in line with government actions aimed at the welfare of Ivorian producers.

By Africa Morning

By Youné Brice, Afriquematin.net

Source: Afrique Matin

[Ivory Coast] mobilizes 9.4 billion FCFA for its mango and pineapple sectors

June 27, 2019

In partnership with the AfDB, Côte d'Ivoire, the largest agricultural country in WAEMU, will invest in the development of local processing of pineapple and mango. The investment is part of its plan to set up a local industry for processing 50% of agricultural production.

Images by IT

In Ivory Coast 9.4 billion CFA francs, or $ 16.3 million will be invested for the industrialization of pineapple and mango sectors. The announcement was made Tuesday in Grand-Bassam by the coordinator of the project to support competitiveness of the industrial sector (PARSCSI), Fae Adrien. The latter spoke at the opening of the pineapple and mango diagnostic report validation workshop that has just ended in Grand-Bassam, one of the main areas for growing mangoes and mangoes. pineapple.

The investment is a step in the implementation of the Ivorian plan for agricultural revival and whose objective is to make the sector more competitive and lucrative for local actors.

Boosting local agricultural transformation in Côte d'Ivoire

Côte d'Ivoire is one of the main agricultural countries in West Africa whose agriculture generates nearly 50% of annual revenues. The main products grown in Côte d'Ivoire are fruit crops. Among them, the mango with an annual production of about 150 000 tons of which 30 000 tons for export. The country is also a major producer of pineapple , one of its main cash crops. It has about 2,500 informal or traditional small pineapple planters that generate more than 80% of local production. In general, Côte d'Ivoire is a key player in tropical products. It supplies 40% of cocoa and 20% of cashew nuts worldwide. Since the end of the crisis in 2012, the authorities have focused on the development and processing of several fruit crops including mango and pineapple to boost the incomes of people in the north of the country with low incomes.

By 2020, Côte d'Ivoire aims in its Agricultural Recovery Plan (PNIA) the local transformation of nearly half of its agricultural production to create value and employment. This, with particular emphasis on the exploitation and processing of tropical products including cocoa, pineapple, coconut, mango, cashew. It is in this context that Ivorian investments are made in partnership with the African Development Bank (AfDB).

By Maimouna Dia

Source: La Afrique Tribune