Sustain raw cashew quality for international market-farmers told

MTWARA: AS prices for raw cashews have shot up to an all-time high, Cashew nut Board of Tanzania (CBT) has reiterated the need for growers and others in the value chain to ensure consistent high-quality nuts for the country, especially to maintain its status in the international market.

CBT Director General Francis Alfred made the call here, saying high prices offered at the on-going cashew auctions is driven by high global demand.

He said consistent high-quality nuts will enable Tanzanian cashews remain competitive in the international market.

“I call upon cashew farmers and others in value chain to ensure high quality nuts, because high quality nuts attract high prices for cashews in local as well as international market,” he said.

Mr Francis was speaking during the first cashew auction conducted by Masasi, Mtwara Cooperative Union (MAMCU) at Nakachindu Village in Masasi District.

During the auction, some 18,000 tonnes were traded and sold at 4,195/- highest price and 3,440/- lowest price per kilogramme. The nuts were traded through Tanzania Mercantile Exchange (TMX) online platform.

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After the sale of their cashews, farmers rejoiced over the high prices, thanking President Dr Samia Suluhu Hassan for huge investment she made through the preparation for the cashew season by providing enough agricultural inputs.

“We are very excited for this cashew trading season, we had a very good preparation following huge investment by the government, apart from that, buyers are offering certifying prices contrary to previous years where prices were very low compared to the production costs,” said one Rashid Rashid, a cashew grower at Masasi District.

One Fatma Mohammed mentioned TMX online platform as another factor that has helped see cashew price go up.

“TMX seems to be a better platform to trade our produce as it provides transparency on whole process auctioning,” she said.

TMX platform allows farmers to directly observe the entire bidding process, ensuring transparency and providing real time market data.

Trading of cashew nuts through TMX started this 2024/2025 trading season following successful four-year trial period.

Meanwhile the auctioning of raw cashews nuts started on October 11 at Newala District. A total of 3,857 tonnes of cashews were sold between 4,120/- and 4,035/- prices per kilogramme.