ABIDJAN/DAKAR Olivier Gore-Bi took out loans to ready his 12-acre cashew farm in Ivory Coast for harvest. He is now leaving some of his crop to rot after the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic accelerated a fall in prices in the world’s top cashew-farming region to unprofitable lows.
ABIDJAN/DAKAR Olivier Gore-Bi took out loans to ready his 12-acre cashew farm in Ivory Coast for harvest. He is now leaving some of his crop to rot after the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic accelerated a fall in prices in the world’s top cashew-farming region to unprofitable lows.
In the first few months of a normal year, over 55% of all cashews would be harvested by farmers in West Africa, dried and shipped in raw form to Asian processors before being sold to consumers worldwide.
But this year, the pandemic was hitting the sector just as West Africa’s cashew marketing season was meant to kick off.
See full article at Business World Online