Born from the will of the governments of cashew-producing countries, the International Consultative Council on Cashew (CICC) was established on November 16, 2016, in Abidjan, on the sidelines of the second edition of the International Exhibition of Equipment and Technology for Cashew Processing (SIETTA), held in the capital of Côte d’Ivoire from November 17 to 19, 2016. Following the fifth ordinary session of the Council of Ministers of the Institution, held from April 5 to 6, 2023, in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, the presidency is now held by Côte d’Ivoire, succeeding Cameroon.
The CICC aims to provide a consultation framework and promote the development of the cashew sector within the member countries through policy coordination and cooperation among States. To date, eleven countries are members of the Organization: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, and Togo. The CICC has international legal capacity and is open to all producing, processing, importing, and consuming countries.
The creation of the CICC follows various analyses and reflections by public and private actors in the cashew sector at national, regional, and international levels. The findings of these analyses were consolidated during the first edition of SIETTA in November 2014 in Abidjan and in the Accra Declaration, following a stakeholder meeting held in Ghana in April 2016. This meeting, under the theme: “African Cashew Facing the Challenges of the Future,” brought together public and private actors and technical partners in the African cashew sector. They recognized the remarkable progress made in the sector over the past twenty years, as well as its numerous opportunities. They recommended the establishment of a platform for States to address the challenges that hinder the optimization of all the benefits derived from the sector.
Thus, with the CICC, associated States have a platform to pool their efforts to address common challenges faced by many countries, including nearly all African nations. These challenges include issues related to organization, synergy among stakeholders and States, policy and governance of the sector, access to knowledge and expertise, production techniques and technologies, infrastructure, specific equipment and inputs, financing, supply chains, price formation, and market access strategies.
Hon. Dr Bryan ACHEAMPONG
Hon. Mr Kobina Tahir HAMMOND
To date, CICC-producing countries remain in the cashew market with over 90% of their production as raw nuts, with no added value. This is because the aforementioned issues are addressed individually, without consultation or synergy, preventing the maximization of the impact of initiatives taken from one country to another. This integrative framework represented by the CICC provides an opportunity for current and future member countries to act collectively to reverse these trends, generate more income and foreign currency for stakeholders and States, create jobs for youth and women in rural areas, and reduce the unequal distribution of profits along the sector’s value chains.
Together, let us make cashew a profitable opportunity for all countries and for all the stakeholders who live off it daily.