Speakers at a cashew session of the maiden Ghana Tree Crops Investment Summit and Exhibition have called for reforms to promote local processing, improve financing and strengthen value addition.

The Summit, organised by the Tree Crops Development Authority in partnership with the World Bank, the Bank of Ghana, GIZ and other partners, opened in Accra on Tuesday, February 17, on the theme: “Sustainable Growth through Tree Crops Investment: Resetting and Building Ghana’s Green Economy.”

Mahama Ayariga, Majority Leader, said developments in the global cocoa sector underscored the need for Ghana to diversify and prioritise value addition in other strategic crops such as cashew.

“If supply exceeds demand, what happens? Price falls. That is basically what has brought us where we are,” he said.

Ayariga described cashew as “a strategic national asset” that supported more than 200,000 farmers and contributed significantly to export earnings but noted that over 85 per cent of Ghana’s raw cashew nuts were exported without processing.

“You produce cashew in Ghana, you put them in ships, you send them to India, they process it in India, then they put it back in the ship and bring it to your shores. How ridiculous,” he said.

He said Parliament was ready to support legislative and fiscal measures to boost domestic processing, enhance regulation and improve traceability.

Sylvester Adinam Mensah, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Export-Import Bank, said tree crops offered a pathway to economic transformation beyond primary production.

“Investing in tree crops is not only a narrow agricultural agenda, it is an economic transformation agenda,” he said.

On cashew, Mensah said the greater potential lay in processing, quality enhancement, branding and market access, and gave an assurance that the Ghana Export-Import Bank was committed to providing affordable financing tailored to the long gestation periods of tree crops.

“Tree crops require patience. There is a time gap between investment and returns,” he said.

Oseadeeyo Kwasi Akuffo III, Okuapemhene, who chaired the session, called for improved productivity, sustainable land use and tailored financial products for farmers and processors.

“We can’t just lift our hands and say there is risk in financing smallholder farms. I disagree with that,” he said.

The Okuapemhene emphasised that “sustainability and climate reliability are paramount,” and noted that responsible cultivation could support carbon sequestration and land restoration.

The speakers agreed that stronger policy consistency, investment coordination and stakeholder collaboration were critical to positioning Ghana as a competitive cashew processing hub within the green economy agenda.