Ninth International Cashew Conference

The Ninth International Cashew Conference, which will run between Sept. 14-24, started this week in Maputo under the auspices of the African Cashew Alliance (ACA) in partnership with the Institute for the Promotion of Cashews (INCAJU) and the Cashew Industries Association (AICAJU). This is the third time Mozambique is hosting this event (after 2007 and 2010).
The ACA is a public-private partnership with more than 150 members created in 2006 in order to make the African cashew industry more competitive. This international conference is considered a major world platform to exchange information and create interactions between all the stakeholders involved in the cashew industry. In Mozambique, the sector is critical and this initiative represents a great opportunity for the country to enhance the value of its cashews at the international level.
Before the conference, a “cashew festival” was held from Sept. 19 to 21 at the Fortaleza of Maputo under the theme “For value addition to cashews and the creation of business opportunities.”
During the plenary sessions of the conference, several specialists gave presentations of their respective areas and the Mozambican representative presented an outline of the cashew agro-business and investment opportunities. The participants were then allowed to meet in B2B format in order to establish connections and partnerships. During the last day (Sept. 24), field visits are organized in a processing plant of cashew in Nampula, in the Cashew Research Center in Nassuruma, Nampula, in Ilha de Mozambique and in the Kruger Park.
The conference, whose theme is “Creating sustainable patterns of production and competitiveness of cashews,” gathers participants from African cashew producing countries such as Mozambique, the Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau, Nigeria and Kenya and from other countries in the value chain such as Brazil, India and Vietnam.