Cashew Firms Discuss Nigeria’s Trade

A delegation of Nigerian
Cashew Industry executives has met with their Vietnamese counterparts in Ho Chi Min city recently to discuss issues affecting trade between the two sides and strengthening ties between Nigerian raw cashew exporters and Vietnamese processors.
Chairman of the Vietnamese Cashew Association, Mr.Nguyen Duc Thanh said despite enjoying a bumber cashew crop last year, when output topped 500,000 tonnes, Vietnam imported 769,390 tonnes last year a year-on-year increase of 28 per cent to process for export.
“Nigeria was the second largest supplier to Vietnam last year, selling 106,734 tonnes or 13.4 per cent of Vietnam’s imports,” he said.
But the quality of Nigerian cashew was lower compared with some other African countries like Ghana, Ivory Coast and Tanzania, he said.
A member of the VINACAS Executive Baord and Deputy General Director of VINACONTROL, Bach Khanh Nhut said the quality of raw cashew nuts imported from Nigeria has improved significantly.
However, some sellers still supply low-quality products, including sprouted and deformed nuts with rot decay, mould and old cashew which caused serious losses to Vietnamese buyers and affected the reputation of the Nigerian cashew industry.
He urged Nigerian exporters to carefully check moisture levels and the quality and quantity of raw nuts before exporting them into other countries. Besides, they should use clean, durable and sealed containers without odours add desiccants and insert carton paper around and inside the containers.
President of the National Cashew Association of Nigeria, Mr. Babalola Faseru said Nigeria has implemented many measures such as providing training for farmers, installing equipment, and building better drying grounds to improve cashew quality.
He said Nigerian cashew would surely be of better quality in 2015, adding that output was also expected to increase significantly too.
According to the Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Olusegun Awolowo, cashew grows in almost every state in the country.
With an annual output of 120,000 tonnes, Nigeria is the third largest cashew producer in Africa and seventh largest in the world.