Foreign buyers snub local cashew nuts in Ghana due to bad practices

The country is increasingly losing its credibility as a source of quality cashew nuts due to bad post-harvest practices by some farmers and aggregators, Jerry Anim of the Directorate of Crop Services at the Ministry of Food and Agricultural has disclosed to the B&FT. Ideally, the international market requires that cashew nuts are dried to at least 10 percent moisture content in order to meet the kernel outturn ratio (KOR); but some recalcitrant farmers and aggregators are in the habit of not allowing nuts to dry to the desired standards before releasing them onto the market – raising concerns from buyers over the quality of nuts from the country, according to the Tree Crops Development Authority (TCDA). As a result, Mr. Anim – who is in charge of cashew development at the ministry – said the country in the past two years has lost its credibility in terms of providing quality cashew nuts on the world market. “Some aggregators follow cashew farmers to their farms and buy right after ...