The future is bright for the nuts sector

Nice summer in prospect for the cashew sector in West Africa.

The 2015 campaign could experience the highest prices since 1999. Several favorable factors come together : strong demand in Asia for nuts , reduced production due to drought in the United States for the competitor product ( almond ) the decline of the euro makes Franc Zone more competitive for export.

The producer prices are rising. Thus the Ivory Coast, the first African producer , has imposed a minimum price up to 22 %. Guinea- Bissau, Benin, Mali and Ghana have done the same.

African production expected that this year could reach 1.35 million tonnes, almost half of global production . Ivory Coast could produce 600 000 tonnes , exceeding India and Vietnam.

source : star africa, rfi fr