The African Cashew Alliance (ACA) in partnership with the Sustainable Nut Initiative (SNI) with funding from the European Union (EU), Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) and GIZ have begun a new webinar entitled Cashew Sustainability Series (CSS) to discuss sustainability issues in the cashew industry.

The quarterly webinar aims to provide a unique platform for cashew industry actors across the globe to deliberate on pertinent issues affecting the sustainability of the cashew industry and sensitize cashew industry players on the sustainability threats in the cashew sector.

The EU has introduced a range of regulations on six crops to ensure sustainable sourcing of those crops. Though cashew is not currently affected, the situation could change in the future, hence the need for actors in the cashew value chain to prepare adequately for the future.

The sessions offer the opportunity for knowledge exchange among cashew industry players and dissemination of expert knowledge on various sustainability issues.

The sessions are moderated by the Coordinator of the SNI, Herman uit de Bosch, who has in-depth experience in, and has been working on, creating sustainable agricultural supply chains of various sectors, including cashew, rice, banana, shea, beeswax and a range of other crops. The sessions are held on zoom with the option for participants to join live on the ACA’s official Facebook page and YouTube channel.

In his opening statement during the maiden Cashew Sustainability Series held on Wednesday 30^th October 2024, Managing Director of the ACA, Ernest Mintah, noted that, “as the cashew industry continues to develop, issues of sustainability have become eminent. The European Union (EU) as a key market for cashew kernels is progressively introducing stringent regulations on other crops”.  

“For those who were at the 18^th ACA Annual Cashew Conference and Expo in Cotonou, we discussed the new EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). Must we wait for such regulations to catch up with the cashew sector? No. But the key question is, what must we do to be ready? That is where this webinar entitled ‘Cashew Sustainability Series’ becomes very important,” he said.

The maiden session focused on the overview of the sustainability challenges in the cashew sector. GIZ/MOVE's Director of Private Sector Development & Deputy Programme Leader, Mary Adzanyo, was the speaker of this session. A key takeaway from the session was that though there are promising efforts towards achieving a sustainable cashew industry, the sustainability transition is so far not straightforward as traceability and transparency remain a challenge. Other sustainability challenges include market volatility and differing markets standards for sustainability.

Recordings of the maiden session of the Cashew Sustainability Series can be accessed via the ACA’s official Facebook page and YouTube channel.   

The next session of the CSS will be held in March 2025.