Tanzania exports cashew nuts to US as focus shifts to value addition

Original Story Published by: Staff Writer  for The East African, www.theeastafrican.co.ke
Photo Source: Courtesy of The East African

(Above) A consignment of processed cashew nuts from Tanzania to the US left the country on Oct 31^st, 2022 as the East African nation seeks to move away from exporting raw nuts to value-added ones.

Dar es Salaam

A consignment of processed cashew nuts from Tanzania to the United States left the country on Monday as the East African nation seeks to move away from exporting raw nuts to value-added ones.

The eight-tonne cargo of processed cashew nuts was dispatched to New Orleans, Louisiana via the Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam.

In October this year, a 20-foot container carrying 7.5 metric tonnes of branded consumer packaged cashew nuts left Mtwara for the US.

The exporter is Ward Holdings Tanzania Limited (WTH), a subsidiary of Ward Holdings International, a Michigan-based global market development and investment company.

While flagging off the cargo, Tanzania’s Deputy Minister for Agriculture Anthony Mavunde said WTH is supportive of the government’s plan to ensure that by 2025, 60 per cent of Tanzania’s cashew nuts are processed locally.

Currently, the country processes less than 10 per cent of its cashew nuts, with the remainder being exported raw.