Raw Cashew Nuts (Rcn) Left To Rot For Lack Of Buyers ( Traders) In Jaman South

We will like to bring to the notice of the Management of Tree Crop Development Authority ( TCDA) and by extension, the government of Ghana that, Cashew farmers in Jaman South and Bono Region as a whole are struggling to get buyers (traders) for their cashew nuts for the 2023/24 crop season.

The Tree crop Development Authority at the beginning of the crop season pegged the Minimum Producer Price for raw cashew nut ( RCN) at ₵8.50 per kilo but this has sharply dropped to ₵5.00 or below as we speak.

Even below the current price of ₵5.00 per kilo, the farmers are struggling to get buyers (traders) for their produce.This has negatively affected the farmers as some of them have fled the Municipal to avoid disgrace and arrest. Most of these farmers took bank loans to finance their farming activities and are unable to pay back the loans they took from the banks mainly because there is no ready market for their produce.

The worst of all is that, some few buyers (traders) in the system have taken advantage of this situation and are exploiting the farmers.The buyers are not honouring payments to the poor farmers who in desperation have decided to sell their cashew nuts below the price of ₵5.00 per kilo just to survive the current excruciating economic condition brought upon us by this government.

To add insult to injury, the infiltration of Raw Cashew Nuts (RCN)from Côte d’Ivoire has worsened the situation mainly because of our porous borders.The Cashew Nuts from Côte d’Ivoire are far cheaper than those of Ghana .For this reason, the buyers ( traders) are rather patronizing the cashew nuts from Côte d’Ivoire to those of Ghana.

In view of this, we are appealing to the Municipal Chief Executive Officer ( MCE) to police our borders to prevent the infiltration of cashew nuts from our neighboring country, Côte d’Ivoire as it is always done during election time.

We in the NDC, hold the Ghanaian farmer in high esteem, which is why in the year 2016 under the leadership of H.E John Dramani Mahama, Price of cashew nuts per kilo was sold at ₵10.00 and we are very much aware that, the next NDC government to be formed in January, 2025 will take our cashew farmers more serious as it were before we relinquished power to this current Akufo Addo’s non-performing government.

As a matter of urgency, we urge the management of Tree Crop Development Authority and, by extension, the government to come to the rescue of our hardworking farmers. We are of the view that, Tree Crop Development Authority should be resourced financially to buy the Cashew Nuts directly from the farmers as in the case of Cocoa to avoid this kind of exploitation in future by the buyers ( traders)

Thank you.

—-Signed—
Adongo Naaba
Communication Officer
0246221757
0209337975

Gyan Kwadwo Emmanuel
Deputy Comm.Officer
0244860581