The Jaman North District Director of the Department of Agriculture, Victor Yao-Dablu, has advised cashew farmers to refocus attention on quality and value addition to boost export earnings.

This, he believes, will help create more jobs for Ghana’s fast-growing population.

He said for every amount earned in the export of raw cashew nuts, the country would have made much more if processed nuts were exported.

Mr Yao-Dablu, who suggested this in an interview with JoyNews’ Nestor Kafui Adjomah, urged the farmers to emulate what the Asia continent is doing concerning value addition.

‘‘We are not maximising the potential of the cashew crop in terms of job creation and revenue generation because we are not adding value,’’ he emphasised.

He further called on farmers to take advice from the Agricultural Extension Agents (AEA) to dry their Raw Cashew Nuts (RCN) under shade to have high-quality nuts to sell instead of drying them in the sun and storing nuts in jute sacks.

The Jaman North District Director of Agriculture noted that if actors in the cashew value chain concentrate on increasing value addition, 50 per cent more jobs could be created owing to the multiplier effects.

However, he stated that despite the potential for growth in the sector, several challenges including limited access to finance and abuse of agrochemicals, are hindering the rapid development of the cashew industry.

Mr Yao-Dablu urged agriculture civil society groups to work with actors across the cashew value chain to boost the production of quality cashew nuts in the country.

“Bono Region is virtually leading in the production of cashew nuts, but to be competitive enough, we need to produce quality cashew because we now have competitors in Asia who are producing more with better quality,” he explained.

He noted the link between the farmers and processors should be well-tightened so that they can collaborate effectively to ensure that quality for processors to buy at the right price.

“With this, the cashew value chain in the Bono Region will succeed and be sustainable,” he added.

A merchant in raw cashew nuts from the Tain District, Solomon Ameyaw, said cashew has become an important export commodity for the country's economy, adding that Africa produces over 50 per cent of the nuts consumed globally.

He noted that ''to ensure the sustainability and competitiveness of our cashew, we must add value to the cashew nuts because when we export raw cashew nuts, we are exporting our jobs out of Ghana’’.

Mr Ameyaw added that raw cashew nut production and processing are essential economic activities, providing livelihoods for several smallholder farmers, youth and women in the Bono Region.

He explained that "while the industry has experienced significant growth in recent years, challenges such as price volatility, unstable policies, inconsistent quality, environmental impacts and unstable policies among others are still critical issues unresolved’’.