WELCOME ADDRESS BY TOLA FASERU, NATIONAL
PRESIDENT, NATIONAL CASHEW ASSOCIATION OF
NIGERIA DELIVERED AT THE ANNUAL NATIONAL
CASHEW SEASON FLAG OFF 2013
Your Excellency, Capt. Idris Wada,Executive Governor of Kogi State,
The Honourable Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development,
The Honourable Minister of Trade and Investment,
The Chairman, Community of Agricultural Stakeholders of Nigeria,
My great cashew Farmers, Traders, Processors and stakeholders,
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen.
Today is a great day as it marks the beginning of a new era in the
history of cashew in Kogi State and in Nigeria.
As president of the National Cashew Association of Nigeria, i am
delighted to be part of this epoch making event and i thank you all
for your continued support.
Before i proceed further, let me thank His Excellency, Capt. Idris
Wada, the indefatigable Governor, of the home of cashew in Nigeria,
for his vision, passion and commitment towards boosting the
economic prosperity of Kogi by unlocking the potentials in cashew.
I recall, after assumption of office as Executive Governor, He
personally called us (NCAN EXCO) to his office to discuss and
deliberate on how to develop the cashew industry in Kogi State, on
that day, all we could see was a man truly committed to turning
around the fortunes of his State, we saw a purposeful leader set to
make a difference and bring prosperity to the people that he so
loved. The surprising thing however, is that despite all the travails of
His Excellency, His commitment to the development of cashew in
Kogi had remained steadfast and unshaken. Sometimes, i wonder
why a Governor will believe in a crop to such a level, and the answer
is simple; His Excellency has seen what nobody else is seeing.
As a man of foresight, His Excellency got us to get to work on the
KOGI CASHEW CORRIDOR (KCC) which was intended to lift Kogi State
from the status of the leading producer of raw cashew to the
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WELCOME ADDRESS BY TOLA FASERU, NATIONAL
PRESIDENT, NATIONAL CASHEW ASSOCIATION OF
NIGERIA DELIVERED AT THE ANNUAL NATIONAL
CASHEW SEASON FLAG OFF 2013
number one processor and exporter of value added cashew products
in Nigeria. In the thinking of His Excellency, creating jobs for the Kogi
people is of top most priority and so cashew has all the qualities to
be a great generator of jobs considering the fact that Kogi
contributes to over 40% of all the raw cashew that is exported from
Nigeria annually, so if he encourages cashew processing in Kogi more
people will be employed, while the processors will enjoy easy access
to supply of raw cashew and other benefits.
Based on the ideals of His Excellency, we found it most appropriate
to use as theme for the 2013 flag off, CASHEW: THE WINNER CROP.
This theme has become even more relevant considering the fact
that, cashew is indeed a winner crop from any perspective you
choose to look at it. Everything about the cashew crop is valuable
and useful, from the root of cashew to the fruit of cashew.
However, today, as we are all gathered here, one thing has brought
us together and this one this is cashew. Looking at the calibre of
delegates from across Nigeria and the World, present here today
makes the message very clear that Cashew is indeed, the winner
crop. Therefore, i agree with the views of His Excellency.
Let me also thank the Hourable Minister of Agriculture and Rural
Development, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina CON, for all the support he had
giving to the National Cashew Association which has resulted in:
I. Nigeria winning the hosting right for the 2013 World cashew
Expo.
II. The National cashew action plan which was reviewed
31/1/2013.
III. Approval of cashew as a National transformational crop.
IV. A budget allocation for cashew for 2013.
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WELCOME ADDRESS BY TOLA FASERU, NATIONAL
PRESIDENT, NATIONAL CASHEW ASSOCIATION OF
NIGERIA DELIVERED AT THE ANNUAL NATIONAL
CASHEW SEASON FLAG OFF 2013
Financial support for the hosting of the 2nd National cashew
stakeholders and action plan forum which took place at
Balmoral, Lagos from the 30th-31st January 2013.
All of these we appreciate and remain very grateful for.
I also thank the Honourable Minister of Trade for is unflinching
support for the cashew industry.
In the last 14 months we have worked hard at ensuring that cashew
takes its rightful place in Nigeria’s economy and life. It is however
noteworthy that this efforts had yielded a whole lot of positive result
and attention.
I said this before and i would like to repeat it, that when i visited
Singapore, a gentleman of Indian origin met me and he said to me:
‘you know what, your cashew, Nigerian cashew, i found this year
(2012) to be of good quality’
This gentleman went further to make other pleasant remarks.
For me, this was really heart warming news. What touched me the
most was the sincerity with which he spoke. I recall in January 2012
barely a month after my election as National President of the
National Cashew Association of Nigeria, i convened the 1st National
Cashew stakeholders meeting with the theme ‘the new order’
One may wonder why such a theme?
The reason is simple, so much had gone wrong and unattended to in
Nigeria’s cashew sector that had resulted in continuous poverty for
cashew farmers, and other operators across the value chain, and
nearly all the problems could be traced to just one thing ‘quality’. So
we articulated a very ambitious project to change this trend. We
knew at that time hat if we did things the way things had been done,
we will get the same result and to achieve better results, then we
have to do things differently.
What did we do differently you may ask, and the answer is simple.
V.
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WELCOME ADDRESS BY TOLA FASERU, NATIONAL
PRESIDENT, NATIONAL CASHEW ASSOCIATION OF
NIGERIA DELIVERED AT THE ANNUAL NATIONAL
CASHEW SEASON FLAG OFF 2013
1) We stopped the use of polypropylene bags
2) We encourage proper drying of cashew nut
3) Encouraged use of jute bags
This was the beginning of the new order and so, i want to use this
opportunity to thank all the stakeholders in the Nigerian cashew
industry for their compliance and cooperation that brought about
the success we achieved during this period. I owe it to you.
The lesson i have learnt from this experience is that together, we can
do better.
Furthermore, it is important to reiterate that the cashew super
powers are namely: India, Vietnam and Brazil. I decided to call them
the cashew super powers because they have all developed strong
local processing capacity for raw cashew. Take for instance, Vietnam
that developed its cashew industry that resulted in export of 167,000
tons of various kinds of cashew kernel with a whooping export
turnover of USD 1.35 Billion, accounting for over 50% of total
quantity of exported cashew kernel Worldwide making Vietnam truly
the 1st and number one in Cashew and this explains the slogan ‘TALK
ABOUT CASHEW – THINK ABOUT VIETNAM’.
The success of Vietnam, India and Brazil in the cashew industry is of
interest to us in Nigeria because if these countries can then we can
too.
Please permit me at this point to talk briefly about the Nigerian
Cashew production, market situation and initiatives of NATIONAL
CASHEW ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA for sustainable development of
Cashew Industry in Nigeria.
CASHEW PRODUCTION/ MARKET SITUATION:
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WELCOME ADDRESS BY TOLA FASERU, NATIONAL
PRESIDENT, NATIONAL CASHEW ASSOCIATION OF
NIGERIA DELIVERED AT THE ANNUAL NATIONAL
CASHEW SEASON FLAG OFF 2013
In Nigeria, Cashew is a national crop that grows and produces well in
nearly all parts of the Country. Currently the Nation’s annual
production for just the raw cashew nuts is put at 120,000 metric tons
valued at Twenty Three Billion (23,000,000,000) Naira which is
equivalent to One Hundred and Fifty Three Million
($153,000,000,000) USD. However, based on the support from the
Federal Government in the activities of NCAN in line with the
national agricultural transformation Agenda, we expect to increase
our volume from 120,000 tons to 240,000 tons within the next 6
years. The cashew Industry in Nigeria provides livelihood for over
300,000 families and has created over 600,000 jobs. Nigeria is home
to 15 cashew processing factories with combined production
capacity not enough to meet even the local demand. With a
population of over 160,000,000 (One Hundred and Sixtty Million)
people the market for edible cashew kernel is very huge and this
makes the case for serious move to grow cashew business in the
country. Currently as it is, over 90% of raw cashew nuts from Nigeria
are exported to India, Vietnam and other countries.
NCAN INITIATIVES:
National Cashew Association of Nigeria(NCAN) is the umbrella body
for The Nigerian Cashew Industry. Our members cut across cashew
traders, exporters, processors, farmers and service providers to the
Industry. NCAN works closely with the Nigerian Government inorder
to improve and develop the cashew industry in Nigeria.
In the last 14 months NCAN had successfully hosted 8 major cashew
events and on the 1st of March 2012 NCAN organized and
successfully hosted the 2012 annual cashew season flag off. This
event was attended by well over 500 local and international
delegates from 15 Countries. It is worthy of note that it was during
this flag off that the MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING FOR THE
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WELCOME ADDRESS BY TOLA FASERU, NATIONAL
PRESIDENT, NATIONAL CASHEW ASSOCIATION OF
NIGERIA DELIVERED AT THE ANNUAL NATIONAL
CASHEW SEASON FLAG OFF 2013
NIGERIAN CASHEW CLUSTER FINANCE SCHEME (NCCFS) was signed
with Nigerian Export Import Bank (NEXIM), Ecobank PLC, Abod
Success Investment Ltd, ACET Ltd, KD Foods Ltd, National Cashew
Association of Nigeria, African Cashew Alliance, West African Trade
Hub and AIMS LTD as parties to the MOU which will facilitate access
to over $2 Million USD in financing to 3 Nigerian Cashew processing
Firms to enable them increase cashew kernel production.
At the moment, the global spotlight is on Nigeria and its cashew
sector
With a lot of private sector/Government collaboration going on in
the Nigeria cashew industry coupled with the increasing foreign
interest and support for the industry, Nigeria is poised to be the next
cashew super power, and going by the focus of His Excellency, Kogi
State may take the lead .
As i bring my address to a close, i urge us all to from this day, to see
and take cashew as the WINNER CROP. When we do this, we will
experience the much desired economic prosperity from the crop for
all stakeolders in the VALUE CHAIN such that we will all be proud of.
Thank you for the audience.
Thank you!!!
Welcome to the ANNUAL NATIONAL CASHHEW SEASON FLAG OFF
2013!
Welcome! Welcome! Welcome!
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