The forum was funded by FAO through Forest Farm Facility (FFF).
At the event, Mr. Kanimang Camara, FAO/ FFF National Facilitator on the Policy, described the event as another important day towards the implementation of planned activities based on the Letter of Agreement (LoA) signed between the FAO and the Federation of Gambia Cashew Farmers Association.
Mr. Camara revealed the rationale behind the activity, which he said, is for the Executive members of FGCFA to engage in advocacy activities including meetings with policymakers, lawmakers, border control institutions among others to chart a way forward towards a robust cashew value chain in the country.
The move, he added, would greatly help to promote the development of a government policy for the cashew sub-sector.
He used the forum to highlight some of the challenges encountered by cashew farmers in the country especially in accessing local markets and cross- border trade in raw cashew nuts.
He thus called on stakeholders to use the forum to discuss remedies to some of these existing bottlenecks in order to lobby for the appropriate policy and legislative provisions in favor of cashew farmers.
“Currently, most of the country’s agricultural products are exported, unprocessed to Europe and Asia, which allows for only low value-added in this country.”
He observed that cashew nut from The Gambian are processed by these foreign countries and are exported to other countries for consumption.
In light of this, he calls for continuous efforts to promote the growth in the competitiveness of agro-business in terms of quality and food safety especially in the promotion, productivity and diversification of potential crops.
He also suggested the need to develop and introduce the National Cashew Policy of The Gambia.
That, he said, is significant in supporting the implementation of policies and other strategic frameworks to ensure The Gambia’s competitiveness in the local, regional, and global markets.
Sheriffo Bojang, president of Farmers Platform The Gambia, said the main focus of the forum is to see how best to formulate policy surrounding cashew.
“There is no policy overall guiding production of cashew, marketing of cashew which is more important in the industry.”
This policy, he added, would greatly help to guide vendors on price control, noting that it will also help to guide farmers on standard price.
Thus, he thanked the participants and advised them to show more commitment to the initiative, reminding that the draft policy can be developed and enacted by our policy-makers.
Mr. Ousman Badjie, Director of Trade at the Ministry of Trade, Regional Integration and Employment, highlighted the numerous challenges the cashew industry faces, further expressing their resolve to supporting the development of this cashew policy.
