Cashew farmers in the Savannah Region have urged government to set up what they describe as a cashew pricing regulatory body and ensure ready market for the crop.
Pricing of cashew in the country has become necessary as local and international buyers are said to be taking advantage of the situation to determine prices of the commodity.
Speaking in an interview with 3news.com at the back of a training workshop organized by Green for Change in partnership with USAID through its funded Feed the Future Ghana Trade and Investment (GTI) Activity, the farmers lamented they lose more money as they have no control over pricing.
“We were battling with lack of market for our produce and now we have to also think about pricing which is very important,” Adam Mumuni, 54, told journalists.
“The most annoying part is that after you harvest your produce they the buyers buy at a price that suits them not what will benefit us.”
But speaking at the sensitization workshop in Damongo, Executive Director of Green for Change John Balankoo Sumbo disclosed that the income potential from cashew crops is not being fully realized due to low yield as most farmers lack knowledge of good silvicultural practices including harvest and post-harvest management techniques, limiting their ability to increase productivity.
According to him, the project will build on existing structures and work to improve on what other organizations have done by strengthening the capacity of the cashew farmers such that their cashew business will be more profitable.
“Farmers have a poor understanding of cashew markets and compete rather than cooperate at the farm gate to sell to middlemen.”
He indicated that about 300 cashew farmers will be trained on harvest and post-harvest management, nut quality including quality parameters such as KOR, nut count, defective rate, moisture content, good agronomic practices in cashew production, negotiation, entrepreneurship, and access to improved competitive markets for raw cashew nuts among others.
“So, if the farmers can produce their nuts to meet this standard and they are not able to negotiate very well with buyers, they might get bad offers for their cashew and so we are going to train them on these topics so that they can negotiate very well for better deals for their cashew products.”
Mr. Sumbo urged cashew farmers to use improved planting materials and other practices to get good yields amidst the changing climate.
The Green for Change project will be implemented over six months across six communities in the West Gonja municipality in the Savannah Region and directly benefit 300 smallholder cashew producer households from the six targeted communities.
The communities are Soalepe, Bunyanto, Achubunyor, Jonokponto, Taliorpe, and Busunu.
Cashew has become one of the leading cash crops in the country in recent years.
It is normally grown in the tropical countries because the cashew tree is said to be very frost-sensitive.
By Christopher Amoako|3news.com|Ghana