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Tropentag 2020, September 9 - 11, virtual conference, Germany
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Implementation of A Processing Unit of Cashew into Spreading Cream
Emmanuela Soro
National Polytechnical Institute Houphouet Boigny, Ivory Coast
Abstract
Côte d'Ivoire is a country whose economy is mainly based on agriculture. Indeed, the agricultural sector represents 28% of the GDP, 40% of the country's exports, employs 46% of the active population and provides a living for two thirds of the population.
However, it must be noted that most agricultural products are sold or exported as raw materials. They are not processed or are only slightly processed. Most of the time, our country don’t add value to its agricultural products. In fact, agricultural policy is more focused on the export of raw materials than on processing, which leads to a leakage of value.
This low level of processing and conservation issues also makes the country dependent on exports, and most of the time producers sell products are bought at discount because they fear losses if the products remain in their hands for a long time.
Cashew value chain is not spared. Although Côte d’Ivoire is the world's leading cashew producer with about 900,000 tons, only about 9% is processed. In 2020, the sector has suffered a loss of about 300 million dollars.
In addition to its excellent organoleptic characteristics, the cashew nut has interesting nutritional virtues and contains active ingredients that give it health benefits. As a result, we believe that the potential of this high potential crop is not sufficiently exploited in Côte d'Ivoire.
One approach to consider is to improve both qualitatively and quantitatively the level of processing. The project we propose is the establishment of a unit for processing cashew into a spreading cream that will be sold both on the local and international markets.
Keywords: Cashew, Côte d’Ivoire, processing
Contact Address: Emmanuela Soro, National Polytechnical Institute Houphouet Boigny, Abidjan, Ivory Coast, e-mail: emmanuelasoro
gmail.com
