Ghana’s cashew value chain is believed to have the potential to generate more revenue, create jobs, and economically empower particularly women farmers in a flourishing 2024.

Despite the potential for growth in the sector, several challenges, including the poor quality of Raw Cashew Nuts (RCNs) and the abuse of agrochemicals, are impeding the development process of the cashew industry.

However, steps are being taken to ensure that actors in the value chain uphold standards by addressing issues that can affect product quality.

In an interview with JoyNews at Seikwa in the Bono Region, a merchant of RCN operating in the Tain District, Solomon Ameyaw, indicated that it is time for cashew farmers to focus on producing quality nuts.

He observed that the factors identified as militating against the cashew value chain in Ghana can be fixed by raising quality awareness among stakeholders to conform to standards.

‘‘We have to keep the momentum that is building up with awareness creation on how our cashew farmers will produce high-quality RCNs to meet the demand of the global market,’’ Mr Ameyaw stated.

He said adhering to standards is core to helping improve the competitiveness of locally produced Raw Cashew Nuts on the international market, leading to a robust industry.

He indicated that although efforts are being made to obtain high-quality nuts from Ghana, there is still a lot of work to be done to raise awareness about the quality of RCN within the cashew value chain.

“We have to put structures in place to improve and manage the quality of RCNs to bring sanity in pricing the commodity,’’ Mr Ameyaw added.

He pointed out that ‘‘As a farmer myself, I think more strategic interventions must be put in place to increase Ghana's export competitiveness of the commodity and woo investors’’.

The cashew merchant and farmer expressed optimism that the 2024 cashew season would be full of progressive movements.

‘‘We in the cashew value chain are upbeat about the prospects that the 2023/2024 cashew season brings us,’’ Mr Ameyaw indicated.