AGRICULTURAL NEWS - Kenya’s cashew nut exports decreased from 835Mt to 485Mt between 2013 and 2015.
It has been reported that the country’s nut industry is in dire straits after an export ban imposed by the Kenyan government in 2009.
According to the International Nut and Dried Fruit Council Foundation (INC) some countries have reported imports of relatively small amounts of shelled cashews from Kenya.
Francisco Montoya, INC spokesperson, said: “Kenya’s cashew nut industry did not report cashew exports during the last few years since the ban, either (sic) in-shell nor shelled.”
Montoya said the ban has its pros and cons, and could be lifted through an Act of parliament based on whether it had achieved its objectives, “however, its genesis and intention was and still remains to encourage more value addition through processing of raw cashew within Kenya’s borders and support the economy by providing jobs and more foreign exchange earnings”.
He added that this was “in line with the aspirations of Kenya’s vision 2030 and the desire to progress from a primary-producer-based economy towards manufacturing and an industrialised nation”.
But some farmers have been discouraged, saying they were being exploited by processors manipulating prices to their advantage, and had, according to reports, started uprooting their cashew trees.
According to the International Nut and Dried Fruit Council Foundation (INC) some countries have reported imports of relatively small amounts of shelled cashews from Kenya.
Francisco Montoya, INC spokesperson, said: “Kenya’s cashew nut industry did not report cashew exports during the last few years since the ban, either (sic) in-shell nor shelled.”
Montoya said the ban has its pros and cons, and could be lifted through an Act of parliament based on whether it had achieved its objectives, “however, its genesis and intention was and still remains to encourage more value addition through processing of raw cashew within Kenya’s borders and support the economy by providing jobs and more foreign exchange earnings”.
He added that this was “in line with the aspirations of Kenya’s vision 2030 and the desire to progress from a primary-producer-based economy towards manufacturing and an industrialised nation”.
But some farmers have been discouraged, saying they were being exploited by processors manipulating prices to their advantage, and had, according to reports, started uprooting their cashew trees.
