By Fatima Saka
The Project Manager, VET-Toolbox, Kikelomo Chibeze, has said that the organisation alongside with Julius Berger Plc would organise a pilot training programme for 1,000 cashew farmers in Nigeria.
According to Chibeze, at a news conference on Wednesday in Abuja, the beneficiaries would be trained with the sole aim of the growth of the sector.
Speaking on, she said that the training would also include factory workers to tackle some of the challenges bedeviling local processing industry of the Raw Cashew Nut (RCN).
Also, the project manager listed some of the challenges facing the sector to include low RCN quality, weak market and supply chain linkages and an unfavourable policy environment.
In addition, Chibeze said they would receive skilled training programmes tailored towards building their capacity needs and business development opportunities in the sector.
She further explained that cashew experts had estimated that Nigeria stands to gain up to 75 million U.S dollars annually in additional revenues from promoting local RCN processing.
She said, “In addition, a cashew processor with a utilised capacity of 12,000 MT has the potential to create almost 800 direct jobs.
”Eighty per cent of the jobs should be for women, with an income potential of more than 6.3 million U.S dollars in the first seven years of operation.”
However, She said that with direct farmer linkage programs, almost 16,000 farmers could benefit from an incremental income of more than 1.4 million U.S. dollars within the period.