The Tree Crop Development Authority (TCDA) has begun enforcing strict traceability and local processing quotas for cashew and five other cash crops, in a major policy shift aimed at ending the export of raw produce of tree crops in Ghana.
The Authority said it had intensified its regulatory oversight, cutting across production, processing, and trading of tree crops in a sustainable manner, while working towards meeting Africa’s 2030 target of processing 50 per cent of its cashew locally.
Dr Rich Kofi Koffituo, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO), TCDA, at the just ended 2026 African Cashew Alliance (ACA) annual conference in Accra, said cashew had received heightened attention in the past few years due to its economic and export potential.
He noted that for years Ghana exported large volumes of raw cashew nuts, losing significant foreign exchange and job opportunities that could have been retained through local processing, something that the authority had changed.
“We have been doing a lot of raw cashew export out of the country – President John Dramani Mahama’s concentration is to look at how we can add value to the raw cashew,” Dr Koffituo said in an interview with journalists.
He noted that despite its potential to be processed into juices, jams, and other products, some of which were showcased during the conference, nearly 90 per cent of cashew apple were being left to rot on farms.
The Deputy CEO said to address the challenge, he TCDA Act had mandated the Authority to reserve a specific percentage of all raw cashew and other crops for local processors, a quota that a specialised sub-committee at the board level determined.
“When it comes to TCDA, for all the six crops, we have a sub-committee at the board level that makes policies to develop these crops. So, for us, we have a committee that determines a particular percentage that may be retained for value addition,” he said.
Dr Koffituo said the Authority had strengthened its field presence, recruiting about 86 enforcement officers to ensure that the implementation of the regulations, including traceability system to monitor the movement of cashew from the farm gate to the port were effective.
Under the new system, he said tracking would be detailed from source to export.
“We want to know if you are farming cashew from a particular community, maybe Sampa and it is coming to Accra, we even know the farmer that gave you that cashew,” he said.
Dr Koffituo noted that the next stage of implementation would involve a directive that made traders to channel a portion of their cashew to approved local factories for processing before any export was permitted.
While Cote d’Ivoire had already exceeded the 50 per cent mark, Ghana and many other African producers were still lagging, a situation that must change through deliberate policy.
He said in Ghana, the TCDA’s industrialisation plan would support both large-scale factories and artisanal and smallholder processors.
It would focus on improving technology, financing, and making smallholder operations bankable through proper bookkeeping and environmental standards.
By Francis Ntow, GNA