Bustling with impressive record of high production – 20 percent globally until the 1970’s, the cashewnut industry slumped around 1974, nose diving from 145,000 metric tonnes, only to pick up in 2012 when statistics showed that 158,000 metric tonnes was maintained.
The downward trend was ostensibly attributed to various factors, among them the government policy which aimed at mobilising people in some villages in the country to live in communal groupings - the focus being to enable affordable access of social services, says Nzaro Kijo, Mkinga District Cashew Coordinator.
“Before the relocation operation, cashew farmers were each maintaining individual farms. But when they were moved to distant areas, most of them found it difficult to travel long distances to attend to their plots, hence failure to manage the farms,” he explains.
Kijo says the operation, though carried out with good intention, gave way lee to invasion of the neglected farms by insect pests and diseases – favourable conditions where the crop is left unattended for a long time.
The abandoned farms, he narrates, were also prone to wanton destruction through fire which was set by unscrupulous bandits for their own reasons.
It is to be noted that at the time, efforts to step up research on the crop diminished, another reason which immensely contributed to decline in production of the crop, according to an agronomist
The cashew nut sub-sector is among the contributors in export earnings – ranking third from tobacco and coffee. The crop is exported raw (RCN). Cashewnut stakeholders believe the contribution would go higher if value addition was done in the country.
India is the main buyer of cashewnuts grown in the country. But what is baffling is the fact that the crop is exported raw - not in processed form , complete with its shell.
Thousands of tones are exported to markets by both commercial and small scale farmers in bulk, the reason being Tanzania is yet to have its own processing factories.
But now, the situation will no longer remain the same, at least something is being done to reverse the trend - with a redeemer in sight. In fact plans are on the drawing board to build three cashew nut processing factories in Mtwara – the home of cashew nuts, Tunduru - both in the south and Mkuranga in Coast Region.
The factories will be built through financing of Cashewnut Industry Development Trust Fund – CIDTF – an independent body incorporated under the provisions of Trustees’ Incorporation Act (2002).
CIDTF’s core objective is to foster development of cashewnut sector by financing all shared functions of research, farming inputs, processing, marketing and branding.
“Construction work shall start this year. But presently, we are preparing structural and architectural drawings,” says Suleiman Lenga, CIDTF Executive Secretary.
“We send cashew nuts raw to the buyers, but we are actually not happy with the package because doing so is tantamount to transferring employment opportunities and technology to others as well as ownership of the crop”, said Lenga in an interview with The Guardian
‘Exports of raw nuts have a negative impact to the economy due to exports of job opportunities and sale of by-products’
He said, “Unlike in the past, when cashew nut factories were in private hands, the new processing plants will be under the ownership of cashew farmers”.
He continued, ‘We have already earmarked big farmers – those whose production capacity is between 30 tonnes to 50 tonnes per season. These will directly qualify for purchase of shares”.
The CIDTF boss explained that the fund is determined to become a redeemer of small scale farmers – on the way to liberating them from prevailing abject poverty which pleagues a large section of our people, especially among the rural poor.
“CIDTF is working under a 3 year strategic programme to grow and distribute a massive 10 million cashew grafted seedlings for farmers in various districts”.
He explained that the institution will ensure that slowly, slowly, farmers will be educated on the need to phase out all traditional variety - aging 50 years and above and plant new improved variety.
The new variety, he said, is resistant to insect pests and diseases. Its production is also impressive – from 15 kgs to 80 kgs per tree per season, adding that under the programme, all regions with traditional variety whose production is negligible, will be sensitised sufficiently enough to change mindset.
“In collaboration with the Tanzania Cashew Board (TCB), we shall do mapping to identify the number of famers, number of cashew trees as well as locations, aimed at obtaining sufficient and reliable information for use in our information network in the industry”.
During the launching of cashew growing this season, which took place at Duga Maforoni Primary School in Duga ward, Mohamed Chande Ngemage, a representative of cashew farmers in Southern Zone, planted a cashew tree to signify the occasion. Actual growing this 2014/15 season is expected to take off in the district at the onset of first rains - mid next month.
According to the coordinator, the farmers were well versed with land preparation and field layout and row to row spacing. Land preparation, said Kijo, involves bush clearing, ploughing, harrowing and hole digging.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
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