500 extension officers set to boost cashew farming

The idea was born during the Cashew Production, Processing and Marketing review meeting for the 2023/2024 season held at the PSSSF Hall in Dodoma.

During the meeting, Agriculture minister Hussein Bashe urged the Cashewnut Board of Tanzania (CBT) to employ more agriculture officers to promote best practices and support the sector’s growth.

He emphasised that deploying extension officers in every ward would enable them to effectively reach farmers, address production challenges and provide regular training to boost yields.

“The target is to increase cashew production from 305,000 tonnes to 700,000 tonnes by 2025/26 season,” Mr Bashe said.

He also directed the registration of all cashew farmers and their trees to ensure equitable distribution of inputs and pesticides.

CBT director general Francis Alfred on Wednesday explained that the 500 youth have been employed through the Build Better Tomorrow (BBT) programme.

He said they are spread across five key cashew-producing regions: Mtwara (245), Lindi (152), Ruvuma (50), Coast (29) and Tanga (24).

Mr Alfred noted that the deployment was a pilot programme with plans to extend it to all 17 cashew-growing regions nationwide.

He added that the 500 extension officers, employed through a collaboration with Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), are expected to help achieve the 700,000-tonne target by the 2025/2026 season.

Among the recruits, 100 hold university degrees, while the remaining 400 have diplomas.

“The goal is to improve cashew crop management and enhance extension services in the country’s cashew-producing regions,” Mr Alfred said.

The recruited youths, starting their year-long assignments on January 13, will oversee extension activities, including promoting best agricultural practices for cashews, by working alongside agricultural officers and farmer associations.

“They will also manage the updating of farmers’ databases and ensure the fair distribution of inputs through government subsidies,” added Mr Alfred.

He said the extension officers will also manage cashew marketing activities during the trading season to address long-standing issues within the industry.

To aid their work they will be provided with necessary tools, including motorcycles and smartphones and they will undergo capacity-building training before commencing their duties.

Mr Alfred said the CBT, under the Agriculture ministry, targets raising cashew production to 700,000 tonnes by 2025/2026 and 1 million tonnes by the 2029/2030 season.

“By December 31, 2024, production for the 2024/2025 season reached 406,117 tonnes, as recorded in auctions. Data collection is ongoing, with expectations to hit 425,000 tonnes.”

In her New Year message, President Samia Suluhu Hassan highlighted the cashew sector’s growth over the past year.

“Cashew nuts were sold at Sh4,195 per kilogramme in 2024, up from Sh2,190 the previous season. Cashew production is expected to reach 425,205 tonnes in the 2024/2025 season, compared to 310,787 tonnes in 2023/2024,” she said.

The extension officer recruitment is intended to address various industry challenges, especially during farmer registration and the creation of a database to track cashew trees.

“Recruited extension officers are expected to act professionally to prevent issues where cooperative and village leaders inflated the number of cashew trees, allowing them to receive a larger share of subsidized inputs. Much of the subsidized input was sold, leaving real farmers without support,” said Mkolopola Village farmer in Mtwara Region, Mr Samson Haule.

“They should act with honesty and integrity, avoiding any collusion that could undermine the government’s good intentions,” added a resident of Tandahimba in Mtwara Region, Ms Hadija Khamis.