Unlocking the potential of the cashew

The singing of the women dressed in matching aprons and headscarves bounces off the high white walls as they learn to prepare cakes, biscuits, jams and syrups from the cashew nut and its luscious red fruit. Silvina Te, 26, this morning made biscuits and cakes from the dried flesh of the cashew fruit. When she started the cooking course only a few weeks ago, she had no idea the tomato-sized fruit usually discarded or fed to pigs in Guinea Bissau had so many uses. “I’ve really enjoyed the course, as before I didn’t know the cashew fruit could be transformed like that. But now I can make all kinds of things with it,” she said.

A cashew nut, growing below the cashew fruit, still on the tree but nearly ripe for harvesting

Cashew nuts are Guinea Bissau’s main export, yet the crop is sold off in its raw form, reaping minimum returns for farmers and the national economy. So under the guidance of other women trainers from Brazil working with the Guinea Foundation for Industrial Development (FUNDEI), 50 women are learning how to unlock the potential of the cashew. The specially built cashew processing centre lies on the once bustling Bre industrial zone on the outskirts of the capital Bissau. During the brutal civil war of 1998 – 1999 foreign investors and manufacturers fled and haven’t returned. The government wants to kick start the ailing Guinea Bissau economy and Prime Minister Aristides Gomes told IRIN that key to attaining that goal is rebuilding the manufacturing and industrial sector.

Women cashew processing, a simple but laborious task.

Despite being the second largest cashew nut producer in Africa, only a tiny fraction of the nuts go through the simple but laborious roasting and peeling that makes them edible and quadruples their export value. Macarai Barai, FUNDEI president, explained that as well as learning how to process the nut and transform the fruit, the women are being taught how to package and market their products and recycle waste. “At this centre, nothing from the cashew goes to waste. We even plan to build a generator at the back where we will burn the cashew nut shells to make our own electricity,” said Barai. At the end of their training, the 50 women will pass on to more women the skills that they have acquired. “We hope eventually to teach women across the country how to process and add value to our cashew harvest, creating jobs and economic development especially for women,” said Barai. [GUINEA-BISSAU: Diversification from cashew nuts essential] ss/cs