The Cashew Industry Association of Ghana (CIAG) has welcomed the Ministry of Trade and Industry’s withdrawal of a partial ban on exportation of raw cashew nuts in the country.
According to the Cashew Industry Association, the ban which sought to revamp a collapse of the cashew processing industry was the catalyst to collapsing the cashew industry.
This comes after a massive public outcry over the directive of a two month-ban, indicating government’s plans to confiscate all cashew nuts brought to the ports during the period of the ban.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry over the weekend withdrew the ban to widen its consultations with stakeholders in order to ensure that the cashew industry becomes competitive in a broad-based manner that would lead to job creation and the general well-being of all stakeholders.
Speaking to Citi Business News,President of the Cashew Industry Association of Ghana, Winfred Osei Owusu, pledging the association’s preparedness to work with government said, the new measures to be implemented were contained in proposals the association presented to the Trade Ministry.
“It is all well and good that the ban has been redrawn, even in default what the minister has succeeded in doing is to raise the issue of cashew on the national platform as we have never seen the issue of cashew discussed this way before but we have seen the interest in cashew now heightened. You know all the issues and the measures that have been proposed now by the ministry were contained in the proposals we sent to the ministry and we are very much happy that the ministry has adopted it and is going to use it as the working document for all stakeholders to develop to help save the cashew industry.”
“We are fully behind it as there is the need to have a body to really drive the development of the industry as in the absence of such a body is the result why we have this kind of difficulties that we have within the cashew industry.” Winfred Osei Owusu told Citi Business News.
“As it has been done in other countries like Cote d’Ivoire, we are not saying same should be done here but we need a national body which will oversee the industry which has a plan in developing the processing, the trade and farmers to help to earn more revenue for the country,” the President of the Cashew Industry Association of Ghana further lamented.
Meanwhile some processors have called on government to provide funding for them to be able to compete with the foreigners.
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By: Norvan Acquah – Hayford/citifmonline.com/Ghana
