The Zambia Development Agency is promoting a joint-venture opportunity to process cashew nuts in conjunction with Western Cashew Industries Limited (WCI).
WCI currently owns 3,740 hectares of land and has already established plantations with mature cashew trees. If these plantations are maintained through a joint venture, their productivity can be increased. Currently the factory is producing only four cartons per month. If new equipment is acquired the factory would produce this quantity in a day.
The plantations are located in the Western Province of Zambia, which has over 100,000 hectares of suitable land and climate to plant 10 million cashew trees that can produce over 60,000 metric tons of cashew nuts. The company currently has a factory on a plot of land with adequate space for further development.
The company’s long term core business vision is to be a supplier of cashew nut products on the local and international markets. The
products will include:
• Cashew kernels of different flavors
• Cashew butter
• Cashew nut shell liquid for industrial use.
• Shell liquid cake (form of fuel)
Markets
Local: The Zambian market has the potential to consume over 30 tons of cashew kernels annually. Currently 99% of the Zambian cashew market is supplied with imported cashew kernels, mainly from Asia, Tanzania, Namibia and South Africa. Western Cashew Industries Limited and individual traders involved in cashew business supply 1% of the Zambian market.
International: The raw cashew nut market has been a growing market for the past two decades. The most notable growth has been in Vietnam and India where imports for raw cashew nuts from Africa have increased substantially and there is an opportunity for Zambia to produce and export over 30,000 tons of raw cashew nuts
annually through international cashew bulk buyers.
Expectations of the project promoters
- The establishment of a new cashew processing plant with a larger capacity than the current one.
- To rehabilitate the current cashew processing plant to increase its capacity.
- To establish satellite cashew processing plants in Kalabo and Senanga Districts.
- In addition the WCI Ltd has 48.95% of shares available for any individual or corporate institution to purchase.
For more information contact:
Lomthunzi Mbewe
Zambia Development Agency
email: lomthunzi@zda.org.zm
tel: +260 1 222 858
