More than 80 thousand tons of cashew nuts are commercialized in the informal market in the country

Cashew nut producers point out that smuggling has been hurting cashew processing factories, which are forced to shut down for lack of raw material, leaving thousands of workers unemployed.

Data released this Saturday, the Consultative Council of the Bank of Mozambique, in the city of Nampula, indicate that the situation is worrying, to such an extent that of the 17 processing factories in the country only nine are currently operating, and it is not expected that they will reopen soon due to lack of raw material.

According to the data released at the meeting, about 35 percent of the cashew nuts produced in the country circulate in the informal market, harming exports.

"We are living a scenario of some chaos in the cashew sector in the country and it is unacceptable that this happens. The debates of structuring measures for the sector should involve other actors such as, for example, the Higher Education institutions, which should also promote the investigation of these scenarios that unfortunately occur in this sector," say the producers.

According to economist Tomaz Salomão, who participated in the event, he considers it inconceivable that just over 80,000 tons of cashew nuts are outside the normal commercialization circuit.

Share this article