Representatives of the Ghana Cashew Industry Stakeholders have agreed on GH¢2.70 per kilogramme as the starting price for Raw Cashew Nuts (RCN) in Ghana in the 2015 cashew season. This is the first time the players in the industry have come together to set a common price for the beans.
A release signed by the Executive Secretary of the Ghana Cashew Industry Association, Ms Yayra Amedzro and issued in Accra, said the decision was reached when the stakeholder representatives dubbed the “Pricing Committee” met earlier this month at Techiman.
In 2014 the Ghana Cashew Industry stakeholders called for a committee to set prices for the sector with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture as the facilitator.
The committee was thus set up comprising farmers/producers, processors, traders/buyers and exporters with the objective to come out with a price that would be beneficial to all stakeholders and allow processors to compete for raw cashew nuts.
The release said “This call stemmed from the fact that the RCN market in Ghana is still very much unregulated and different players offer different prices thus creating an uncompetitive market for, particularly, the local processors, and some times the farmers”.
It said the buyers at the meeting urged producers to ensure that only well sun-dried nuts are produced for sale in order to prevent excessive weight loss by the time of export or processing.
“The stakeholders reiterated the need to set up an official body to regulate the industry in order to curb the activities of spot buyers who often come in to offer higher prices that even they themselves cannot sustain over the duration of the season thereby causing instability in the sector,’’ it added.
The release further quoted the Chairman of the Committee, Mr Seth Osei–Akoto, of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, as urging the stakeholders to come together again to review prices as the season progresses; based on the market dynamics such as international market price for the RCN, Free on Board (FOB) prices and production cost of matured farms.
He said he was aware that the leaders of the Ghana Cashew Industry Association (GCIA) is working with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, the Ghana Export Development Authority under the Ministry of Trade and Industries to set up structures and policies that can facilitate the creation of a stable market for Cashew Nuts in Ghana.
Mr Osei-Akoto, therefore, encouraged the stakeholders “to support the leaders in various capacities for the sector to experience the growth they are all expecting as the road to a stable market for a developing industry can be a very difficult one”.
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