We need incentives to drive cashew industrialisation, not bans — NCAN

By Gabriel Ewepu

ABUJA — The National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN) has urged the Federal Government and the National Assembly to follow incentives that volition thrust cashew industrialisation alternatively than imposing bans that could cripple the sector.

In a connection signed by its President, Dr. Ojo Ajanaku, the relation stressed the request to prioritise the payment of cashew farmers and guarantee policies that beforehand maturation alternatively of restrictions.

According to Ajanaku, NCAN’s farmer-first industrialisation pathway should absorption on:

Incentives for processors: proviso of overseas speech rebates, VAT and work alleviation connected equipment, and vigor support.

Access to finance: instauration of a Special Agro-Processing Loan Window (SAP-LW) astatine little than 5% interest, tied strictly to verified processing contracts via NCAN’s Farm Mapper.

Structured offtake: instauration of minimum offtake schemes to warrant markets for farmers and proviso processors.

On accountability, helium disclosed that NCAN has developed a Farm Mapper app to heighten transparency, combat smuggling, and enactment regulated trade.

He further appealed to authorities to support export channels open, insisting that farmers indispensable person ineligible entree to planetary buyers portion home processing capableness develops.

“Nigeria tin execute cashew industrialisation by gathering with carrots, not sticks. Export bans lone reward smugglers and punish farmers. Incentives, traceability, and concern volition pull investment, make jobs, and fortify Nigeria’s presumption successful the planetary cashew economy,” Ajanaku stated.

He warned that abrupt restrictions oregon bans connected earthy cashew seed exports would illness farm-gate prices, impoverish millions of smallholder farmers, substance smuggling, weaken authorities revenue, and harm Nigeria’s estimation arsenic a reliable trading partner.

The station We request incentives to thrust cashew industrialisation, not bans — NCAN appeared archetypal connected Vanguard News.