[ACCI-CAVIE] In Côte d’Ivoire, the field price of cashew nuts has been set at 315 CFA francs/kg. At the beginning of the season, the price setting sets the tempo. The government is betting on local processing of this product: in 2023, Côte d’Ivoire intends to produce 1 million tons of raw cashew nuts, of which 300,000 will be processed locally. Eventually, by 2026, the country would like to process half of its production locally. Too ambitious a goal? For the time being, only 10% of production is processed locally: most is destined for export. And several Ivorian factories are experiencing difficulties.

In mid-January, the Group of Processors of Côte d’Ivoire (GTCI) wrote to the authorities asking them to maintain their subsidy, at the risk of going bankrupt. The subsidy consists of a purchase subsidy of CFAF 2.5 billion and a 9-month loan against the pledging of product worth CFAF 6.5 billion… the GTCI says it is having difficulty accessing the market: “Asian exporters are overcompensating for the price of the product:

“Asian exporters overpopulate the raw material in order to raid all the product to feed the factories installed in their countries, thus depriving the Ivorian factories of raw nuts,” explains the GTCI.

This organization also points to the “higher” production costs, according to it in Côte d’Ivoire: in particular, the cost of electricity and industrial equipment. These companies believe that they are not able to compete with Asian companies, which are more experienced, receive subsidies from their countries and have qualified personnel and access to high-performance tools. As a result, local companies cannot keep up: last year, 8 factories out of the 20 in the country had to close.

A government that encourages the creation of local processing units. However, in recent years, the government has multiplied fiscal and financial measures to encourage the creation of new local processing units. Zones dedicated to cashew nuts have even been set up. 

“We are aware that there are concerns about working capital for the purchase of raw materials,” says Amadou Coulibaly, president of the Conseil Coton Anacarde. “For example, these companies must be able to mobilize 60 billion CFA francs to buy 10,000 tons of cashews … the government’s support is therefore necessary,” continues this official, who insists on one point: these measures are limited in time.

For economist Salif Koné, the strength of local factories also depends on the domestic market, “the domestic market must be large enough to allow local factories to take their first steps. But demand is still marginal. Another solution is to train competent human resources to work in cashew processing.

By Bineta Diagne and LB