Ashura9
JF-Expert Member
- Oct 21, 2012
- 740
- 485
Cashew nut processing factories to start next fiscal year
According to the Cashew nut Board of Tanzania (CBT) Director General, Mr Mfaume Juma, the Cashewnut Industry Development Trust Fund (CIDTF) financed factories will be constructed in Tunduru, Mtwara Rural and Mkuranga districts.
“We are determined to increase the domestic capacity of cashew processing to at least 30 per cent,” Mr Juma told the Daily News in a phone interview from Mtwara yesterday, noting that currently less than 10 per cent of the country’s cashew produce is processed domestically.
He said consultants from the University of Dar es Salaam Business School have already submitted the initial draft of the factories’ business plans, adding that their Ardhi University counterparts were expected to submit the structural drawings for the factories, soon.
“We have engaged experts to ensure that the business is expertly executed,” he said, inviting more Tanzanians to invest in the cashew industry, which he said offers huge business opportunities.
Tanzania produces between 150,000 and 200,000 tonnes of cashew nuts, most of which is exported in raw form. The export of raw cashew however is widely ridiculed as an export of jobs for Tanzanians to foreign countries while denying producers of their rightful income due to the meagre prices that the raw produce attracts.
Cashew nut farmers have this season received relatively good prices, ranging between 2,400/- and 2,900/- per kilogramme, according to the CBT chief. “Farmers under the warehouse receipt system have received good prices this season, as compared to their counterparts outside the system, who have sold their produce at 2,000/-.
The planned factories with total processing capacity of 30,000 tonnes annually, Mr Juma said, will be operated under the Public Private Partnership arrangement. “The factories will be operated under the PPP arrangement, we are determined to attract the best partners in these joint ventures.”
The regulator of the cashew sub-sector was optimistic of the bright future of the industry, saying there is a growing interest among prospective investors, “We are getting many prospective investors with interest in the cash crop...and they are all welcome because in cashew nut, there is huge business potential for tapping.”
SOURCE: DAILY NEWS
According to the Cashew nut Board of Tanzania (CBT) Director General, Mr Mfaume Juma, the Cashewnut Industry Development Trust Fund (CIDTF) financed factories will be constructed in Tunduru, Mtwara Rural and Mkuranga districts.
“We are determined to increase the domestic capacity of cashew processing to at least 30 per cent,” Mr Juma told the Daily News in a phone interview from Mtwara yesterday, noting that currently less than 10 per cent of the country’s cashew produce is processed domestically.
He said consultants from the University of Dar es Salaam Business School have already submitted the initial draft of the factories’ business plans, adding that their Ardhi University counterparts were expected to submit the structural drawings for the factories, soon.
“We have engaged experts to ensure that the business is expertly executed,” he said, inviting more Tanzanians to invest in the cashew industry, which he said offers huge business opportunities.
Tanzania produces between 150,000 and 200,000 tonnes of cashew nuts, most of which is exported in raw form. The export of raw cashew however is widely ridiculed as an export of jobs for Tanzanians to foreign countries while denying producers of their rightful income due to the meagre prices that the raw produce attracts.
Cashew nut farmers have this season received relatively good prices, ranging between 2,400/- and 2,900/- per kilogramme, according to the CBT chief. “Farmers under the warehouse receipt system have received good prices this season, as compared to their counterparts outside the system, who have sold their produce at 2,000/-.
The planned factories with total processing capacity of 30,000 tonnes annually, Mr Juma said, will be operated under the Public Private Partnership arrangement. “The factories will be operated under the PPP arrangement, we are determined to attract the best partners in these joint ventures.”
The regulator of the cashew sub-sector was optimistic of the bright future of the industry, saying there is a growing interest among prospective investors, “We are getting many prospective investors with interest in the cash crop...and they are all welcome because in cashew nut, there is huge business potential for tapping.”
SOURCE: DAILY NEWS
