USAID Global Development Alliance

This project is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The U.S. Agency for International Development administers the U.S. foreign assistance program providing economic and humanitarian assistance in more than 80 countries worldwide.

Description: The Global Development Alliance (GDA) project targets cashew processors in 10 West African countries by providing training on the operational aspects of cashew processing. The services for every participating processor include a 3-5 day visit to their cashew processing facility during which supervisors, line managers, and factory managers are trained in-depth on operational requirements, such as hygiene and security procedures. The ACA team develops strategic approaches for each factory in order to improve the technical capacities of the facility in the following years.

This GDA extension (the original GDA was carried out from May 2013 - March 2015), will expand its scope to cover environmental compliance for processors and develop procedures to be included as one of the core areas into the ACA Seal manual. Furthermore, with a buy-in option, the project may expand into post-conflict and post-epidemic countries.

Grant Period: April 2015 - March 2017

Target Countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo; Optional: Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, and Sierra Leone

Beneficiaries: West African Cashew Processors

Key Outcomes: The extension of the GDA will allow the expected impact to reach more than $20 million in additional income for rural communities and stable employment in the cashew sector for more than 2,500 people. It will also expand its scope to include environmental compliance for processors and develop procedures to be incorporated into one of the core areas in the ACA Seal manual. Overall, ACA aims to link more than 600,000 farmers and their dependents to the international market via processing.

This page is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of the African Cashew Alliance and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.