Odienné, March 22, 2022 (AIP) – The prefectural authorities of Kaniasso, to counter the phenomenon of cashew nut leakage, have adopted a series of precautionary measures, including the one prohibiting the opening of storage warehouses in villages and localities. borders with neighboring Mali, falling under the sub-prefectures of Goulia and Mahandiana Soukourani.

The two sub-prefectures of this department in the Folon region, in the far north-west of Côte d’Ivoire, are particularly faced with the problem of cashew leakage, more than six weeks after the start of the 2022 marketing campaign.

The temptation remains great for farmers and buyers in these regions to send the product to neighboring Mali where the farm gate purchase price is more attractive. Around 400 F CFA/kg against the floor price of 305 F in Côte d’Ivoire.

An upward trend in the purchase price (around 350 F) is observed, but producers in border villages are under attack from buyers from the other side of the border, thus contributing to the flight of cashew nuts. Especially in a context where demand is still much higher than supply, in the area, in these first weeks of the 2022 marketing campaign.

In a decree, the prefect Akpa Aimé Roland, as a precaution, thus prohibits the storage of products in these border villages.

The prefectural decree also prohibits the movement of vehicles or any other rolling machine transporting cashew nuts from the hinterland to the internal borders of the department.

The document also provides that checkpoints are created and held by mixed forces at key locations. Forces authorized to carry out systematic checks, in all places, of marketing documents.

Trucks loaded with cashew nuts are also prohibited from circulating in the area between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m.

These measures have been in effect since March 8, 2022, when the order was signed which warns that any offender will have their product and truck seized and turned over to the proper authorities for due process.

Côte d’Ivoire is still faced with the problem of the flight of its cashew production to neighboring states. During a press conference in February 2020, the director general of the cotton and cashew council, Adama Coulibaly, said that between 150,000 and 200,000 tonnes of cashew nuts are fraudulently leaving the country, equivalent to nearly 17 billion FCFA of shortfall for the State.

More than seven tons of cashew have already been seized in the Folon region on their way to Mali, according to the local cashew cotton delegation, since the start of the campaign. Six tricycles loaded with 60 bags (about six tons) were stopped on Saturday March 12, 2022, in the Mahandiana-Sokourani sub-prefecture (Kaniasso department). A few days earlier, 18 bags (more than 1.5 tons) had been seized in Tiéfenzo (sub-prefecture of Kimbirila Nord, department of MInignan).

The prefectural authorities of Kaniasso, supported by the regional delegation of the cashew cotton council of Odienné, are also increasing awareness-raising activities for producers, always with the same objective of combating the leakage of the product.

SOURCE: AGENCE IVOIRIENNE DE PRESSE