By Olaseinde Gbenga – Abuja
National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN) is set to sign a N3.6 billion Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with foreign investors.
This, according to NCAN is part of the efforts to reduce challenges facing cashew farmers as well as to increase productivity.
Mr. Ojo Ajanaku, the president of the association disclosed this at a press conference in Abuja, where he stated that there would be a roundtable conference centered at converging investors, off-takers and farmers to sign the MoU.
The core objective of the association’s according to him is to increase the annual production of cashew from 50 billion to 220 billion by the year 2020.
“Kogi State produces 60% of the entire cashew produced in-country at the present.”
He stressed that targeted investors are local off-takers who are currently 20 in number and 15 other foreigners.
Mr. Isaac Sunday, one of the stakeholders in the value chain, while stating some of the challenges incurred in cashew production underscored inadequate lending from financial institutions, high cost of production and multiple taxations as critical bottlenecks.