FG trains stakeholders on cashew value chain in Edo

The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), on Tuesday, trained stakeholders on cashew post-harvest handling in Edo State.

The one-day capacity building on cashew post-harvest handling (harvesting, drying, sorting/grading, bagging, storage, processing, packaging and marketing), was organised by the cashew value chain department of the ministry.

Declaring the workshop opened, the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Ernest Umakhihe, said the training was borne out of the need for government to create awareness and improve the technical know-how of cashew farmers, buyers, processors and marketers on cashew post-harvest handling to ensure the quality of cashew products for local and international market.

Represented by Mr Bernard Ukattah, deputy director, FMARD, Umakhihe said the importance of cashew had been on the increase being the second non-oil export foreign exchange earner for the country.

“Cashew is currently providing a livelihood for over 500,000 families in mostly youths and women in Nigeria. It is important to state that the excellence and thoroughness of post-harvest handling affect the quality of cashew products, which in turn affect the county’s reputation for those products and by-products in the local and international market.

“High-quality nuts is of primary concern to exporters and one of the major criteria for success in the international market. Hence dis-coloured, pitted, shrivelled nuts are not be mixed with good nuts” he said.

According to him, “the training will play a significant role in ensuring the adoption of globally accepted good agricultural practices and quality assurance by cashew farmers, middlemen, processors and marketers.”

Umakhihe pledged the ministry’s commitment to continue to support farmers with planting materials and building the capacity of farmers in different aspects of Agriculture so as to deliver quality produce.

In his welcome address, the state Director of Agriculture, Edo FMARD Office, Wellington Omoragbon, urged the participants to take advantage of the training to increase their yield and learn the post-harvest handling of cashew nuts.

Omoragbon thanked the ministry for the series of training programmes brought to farmers in the state.

“In the last two months, we have had a series of training and empowerment of farmers with seeds and seedlings, tricycles, and cassava and oil palm production equipment,” he said.

Samuel Ojeimoghan, a cashew farmer from Afuze in Owan East Local Government Area of the state, thanked the ministry for the support and promised to train other farmers in his domain.

Dr Akintoye Olagbaju, a Director at the Nigerian Stored Product Research Institute, Ilorin, presented a paper on the “acceptable standard and norms for cashew harvest and storage techniques.”

Dr Olufemi Ibiremo, also a Director at the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN) and Dr Omolola Etukudo, a senior lecturer, Kabba College of Agriculture, Kogi State, also presented papers at the training programme.

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FG trains stakeholders on cashew value chain in Edo.FG trains stakeholders on cashew value chain in Edo