Terms of reference for the 6th ^Council of Ministers of the CICC

• Location: Kempinski Hotel, Gold Coast City Accra, Ghana
• Period: April 18-20, 2024
• Moderator: Mr Malamine Sanogo, Support Consultant at CICC

1. Background

The International Cashew Consultative Council (ICCC) is an intergovernmental organization promoting cashew value chains. It was created on the sidelines of the 2nd edition of the International Exhibition of Cashew Processing Equipment and Technology (SIETTA). By adopting the convention establishing the ICCC, the signatory countries of the constitutive act confirm the strategic nature of cashew as a lever for agricultural, economic and social development in producing and consuming countries.

The Organization aims to provide a framework for consultation and to promote the development of the cashew sector in the member states through policy coordination and cooperation between states. To date, eleven countries are members of the CICC, namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo. It has international legal capacity and financial autonomy. The headquarters of the CICC is based in Abidjan.

The CICC is made up of two permanent bodies and three non-permanent technical bodies. The permanent bodies are the Council of Ministers (CM) and the Executive Secretariat (ES). The CM is made up of the Ministers responsible for agriculture and trade/industry of the Member States. It represents the supreme decision-making body. The ES plays the role of operational body for implementing the vision, strategy, plans and activities of the institution. As such, it has four technical and administrative departments, namely: a) Economic Studies and Statistics (2ES), b) Research and Industrial Development (R&DI), c) Cooperation, Organization and Strategic Partnerships (COPS) and d) Administration and Finance (AF).

Three non-permanent bodies support and guide the decisions of the CICC. These are: a) the Scientific Conference (CS), which is an independent and impartial platform for scientific exchanges bringing together researchers and research institutes and universities from member countries, b) the College of Agricultural Production (CPA), which is the forum for discussion and formulation of policies relating to agricultural production, bringing together producers and producer organizations from member countries, and c) the Commission for the Promotion of Processing (CPT), which is the exchange body for private sector actors and organizations serving as a platform for exchanges on issues of processing cashew and its derivative products, as well as the promotion of local consumption. Their term of office is two years.

2. Mission of the CICC

The vision of CICC is to serve the community of member countries through promotion, advocacy, knowledge sharing, innovation, partnership and providing platforms for discussion on issues of global importance in cashew value chains. CICC is based on five (05) pillars of intervention to support member states in their decision-making. These are:

• Building an influential and dynamic organization for advocacy and lobbying for change in the cashew sector;
• Promote cooperation and consultation between Member States, stakeholders and partners for structuring investments in the sector, synergy of actions and industrial development of cashew;
• Coordinate and initiate policies and strategies for the sustainable promotion of the cashew sector with greater added value in producing countries;
• Produce and disseminate strategic decision-making data and information for Member States;
• Strengthen the capacities of public and private actors in Member States by mobilizing technical and financial partners and coordinating their interventions.

3. Objectives of the CICC Council of Ministers 2024

These are mainly:

• Approve the 2023 activity report;
• Approve the moral report of the Executive Secretary for the period 2020-2024;
• Approve the CICC 2024 operating budget;
• Examine the reports of the first 2023 session of the CICC Technical Commissions;
• Evaluate applications for new membership;
• Recommend to member countries appropriate political actions enabling the development of the cashew sector;
• Validate partnership agreements with the CICC.

4. Expected results

The expected results of this 6th ^Council are as follows:

• The CICC 2023 activity report is validated;
• The 2022 and 2023 audit reports are validated;
• The moral report of the first term 2020-2024 of the Executive Secretary is validated;
• Measures are being taken for the continuity of the Executive Secretariat, whose term of office ends on July 31, 2024;
• The mechanism of statutory contributions of member countries is validated;
• The budgeted work plan for the year 2024 approved;
• Recommendations to countries and to the CICC formulated;
• The membership of new members of the CICC approved and the constitutive convention signed by the adhering member countries.

5. Implementation method

The 6th ^Council of Ministers will be organized in three phases:

• A meeting of country experts to evaluate the working documents proposed by the Executive Secretariat and the CICC Technical Commissions. This meeting will take place on April 18 and 19, 2024. In parallel with this meeting, the CICC technical partners will also meet for half a day on April 18, 2024 for consultations to support the cashew sector in CICC member countries. The conclusions of these two meetings will be capitalized in a report by the experts to be submitted for adoption by the Council.

• A meeting of Ministers of member countries on 20 April 2024 to decide on the conclusions of the Experts’ report and the reports submitted by the Executive Secretariat. The decisions of the Council of Ministers will be taken in the form of Resolutions to be implemented by the Executive Secretariat.
• The presentation of the Final Communiqué of the Council of Ministers to the public at the end of the work of the 6th ^Council on April 20, 2024, followed by press conferences.

6. Countries concerned

It is about:

Member countries consisting of:

• Benign
• Burkina Faso
• Cameroon
• Ivory Coast
• Ghana
• Guinea
• Guinea-Bissau
• Mali
• Nigeria
• Senegal
• Togo

Invited non-member countries are:

• Cambodia
• Mozambique

7. Invited organizations

8. Working documents

They are made up of:

• 2023 Activity Report;
• Moral report of the Executive Secretary 2020-2024;
• Audit report 2022 and 2023;
• Report of the Technical Commissions;
• Work plan 2024;
• Country updates and expectations.

9. Programme
9.1. Meetings of Experts, Council of Ministers and Working Group of Partners

9.2. Other activities parallel to the 6th Council of Ministers of the CICC

Three events are associated with the 6th ^CICC Council. These are:

• April 14-17, 2024: Mini conference on research in the cashew sector
  • Field visit to Wenchi Research Station in Ghana (April 14-15, 2024)
  • Scientific communications in Accra, Ghana (April 15-17, 2024)

• April 18-20, 2024: Ghana National Cashew Day, Accra
  • Exhibitions of products and innovations
  • Demonstrations
  • Partnerships and negotiation

• April 19, 2024: Steering Committee of the GIZ MOVE/ComCashew regional project implemented within the framework of the project “Business Support Facility for Resilient Agricultural Value Chains” funded by the EU, OACPs and BMZ

10. Participants by country and organization for the Council of Ministers, meeting of Experts and consultation of Partners