ACA News

Benin Cashew Exporters Group Launches Website

by Samantha Mensah, Aci, and Kwadwo Asare, ACA

Benin is the world’s 9th largest producer of cashew in the world, but the country is still underrepresented on the global cashew market. The Benin exporter’s association, the National Council of Benin Cashew Exporters (CoNEC) is working to change this, and has made significant progress toward gaining international recognition and attracting business through the website for their organization, launched in January.

The creation of this new website will help outsiders recognize the potential for economic development...

Seal Spotlight - An Interview with Condor Nuts

During a January trip to East Africa, the ACA Seal Team visited Condor Nuts to evaluate implementation progress of the Seal program. Condor, located in Nampula, Mozambique, is the newest Seal-enrolled processor in the country. 

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Beacon Economics - World Economic Report

This month, AfricasheW320 features a world economic report from Beacon Economics. Chris Thornberg, founder of Beacon Economics, presented during the plenary session at the 7th ACA Annual Conference in Benin, where he discussed cashew in a global economic setting. Beacon's Newsletter contribution, which will be featured again in June, highlights Africa's place in the global economy while also focusing on import and export trends for agricultural commodities.

Africa’s regional economy performed better than global trends in 2011, but Africa’s trade with major economies in 2012...

Nigeria rallies its Cashew Potential for the ACA World Cashew Festival

As it prepares to host the 2013 ACA World Cashew Festival & Expo, Nigeria is positioning itself to reap the full impact of the cashew business.

“Nigeria has all the possibilities to become one of the next cashew-superpowers”, stated National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN) President Tola Faseru, also  an ACA Executive Committee Member, at the second National Cashew Stakeholder Forum in Lagos, Nigeria from 30-31 January, 2013. The conference, was attended by more than 200 cashew farmers, processors and traders, including ACA President Georgette Taraf and MD Christian...

Global Cashew Council Identifies Priorities at Steering Council Meeting

At a Steering Committee last October in Paris, the Global Cashew Council (GCC) identified several priorities for the years to come and developed an action plan for key upcoming activities. ACA MD Christian Dahm and former ACA president Carlos Costa attended as representatives of the African region. 

The meeting established a five-point program for follow up in 2013: a standard for cashew kernel, a research project, a website, GCC marketing material, and a letter of invitation for participation in the GCC to large companies and organizations involved in the cashew industry....

US Businesses Eye Cashew Opportunities in Africa

The ACA is now viewed as a gateway to doing business in Africa by an increasing number and variety of international businesses!  At the annual convention of the Peanut and Treenut Processors Association (PTNPA), numerous cashew buyers met with ACA Managing Director Christian Dahm and ACA Business Advisor Sunil Dahiya to learn about the latest developments in the industry in Africa, newly established processors, and forthcoming investments....

ACA and West Africa Trade Hub rebuild regional Senegalese Cashew Associations

Following an invitation of PADEC, a support development program of the Casamance Region, on December 20-21, 2012, the Trade Hub Dakar Director, Makhtar Thiam represented ACA and the USAID West Africa Trade Hub at a two days workshop in Ziguinchor (Southern Senegal) to create a new interprofessional organization in the cashew sector for the 3 administrative regions of Casamance (Ziguinchor, Sedhiou, Kolda) which provides 80% of the cashew produced in Senegal,  as well as to elect a new president for this nascent organization. 

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Mim Cashew officially awarded ACA Quality and Sustainability Seal

On December 14, 2012, Mim Cashew became the second company to be officially certified under the ACA Quality and Sustainability Seal. Mim, located in Ghana’s Brong-Ahafo region, was provisionally approved in October after a visit by ACA Seal Team Advisor Jim Giles. After a final audit was completed, ACA Finance Manager Ernest Dankwa presented to Mr. Lars Wallevik, owner of Mim Cashew, Mr. Joseph Yeung, General Manager and  Mr. Kumaris Anil, the factory’s Production Manager, with their official Seal certificate. 

“This is not the first certification we have received. We are...

Year in Review – Highlights of 2012

 

The past year was filled with so many huge moments for ACA, it was hard to pick our favorites! Here’s a selection of some of our most important achievements and milestones from 2012. 

February  ACA founding member Olam International opens a processing...

Intersnack and ACA Roll out ACA Seal in East Africa

The ACA seal is taking off in Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique. The food safety, quality and social compliance program was developed by ACA in cooperation with Kraft Foods and Intersnack to improve the competitiveness and market access for the African cashew processing industry.

From December 3-7, an Intersnack quality expert and the recently-appointed new Sourcing Manager – Africa, accompanied by ACA Managing Director Christian Dahm, visited cashew processors in East Africa to introduce the Global Food Safety as well as the Global Social Compliance initiatives and explain how the ACA...

African Cashew Alliance: Growing the cashew industry

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