“It’s strange,” says Bright Simons, an entrepreneur and an economic commentator in the acra, who studied the figures. “The roasting and retailers buy nuts from farmers for $ 500 per ton and sell customers (both home and abroad) worth from $ 20,000 to $ 40,000 per ton.”
Overall, Ghana grows about 180,000 tons of cashews annually. More than 80% are exported, and in an unprocessed form. This brings about $ 300 million in export income, but means that Ghana lacks much more profitability you get from fried, ready -to -use cashews.
Mildred Acotti is one person trying to increase the number of cashews that are fired and fried in Ghana. She is the founder and CEO of Akwaaba Fine Foods, which currently processes only 25 tons a year.
Ms. Acotti denies any suggestion that she and others, like she, have a price. According to her, the packaging and the fried machine, which the Western business automatically uses in this area, is unavailable for it from the high cost of the loan in Ghana.
“If you go to the local bank, you will cost 30% to get a loan,” she complains. “How the manufacturer do you tell me how big your profitability is, what can you afford such interest?
He says that this situation is that less than 20% of Ghana’s cashew is treated locally. The bulk is drawn and exported to large factories in countries such as India, Thailand and Vietnam.
It is great that some of these packed nuts are taken back to Ghana, where they are sold at the same price as on the internal fried cashew. This is despite a trip to sea trucks for 20,000 miles and import costs.
This is a similar picture for rice exported to Ghana from Asia and is sold at low prices, despite the fact that Ghana also grows the crop itself.
