ACA Begins Workshop Series under USAID West Africa Trade Hub & Investment Project

From the 3^rd to the 4^th of November in Cotonou, ACA held the first workshop under its partnership with the USAID West Africa Trade & Investment Hub (WATIH). This project, funded by USAID WATIH and implemented by ACA, seeks to strengthen the technical capacities for stakeholders within the West African cashew value chain. Ten cashew-producing countries in the region have been split into three zones where a total of six training workshops will take place on topics of food safety, environmental protection, business management, international competitiveness, and market information systems.

The first workshop in the series, which targets both cashew processors and market information system (MIS) professionals, was held for a series of two days and welcomed a total of 15 participants from Benin, Ghana and Nigeria. As will be the case for the other project zones, the first workshop focused solely on crucial issues of food safety, product quality, environmental protection and market information system basics. The trainings are kept purposefully small to allow for intensive and focused learning with ACA experts over a two-day period.

The workshop in Benin ran two different sessions for processors and market information professionals simultaneously. ACA Seal Coordinator, Dorcas Amoh facilitated the training sessions for the cashew processors on subjects of food safety, such as good hygiene practices, good manufacturing practices, HACCP implantation and the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, as well as environmental management strategies. Participants were able to conduct an HACCP simulation during the program to reinforce the information learned. These issues are crucial to the international competitiveness and sustainability for processing companies in the international market. As large buyers increasingly scrutinize the value chains of their products, ACA aims to improve the capacity of companies to excel under scrutiny. Food safety and environmental protection have thus become essential at every level of cashew processing.  

At the same time, ACA MIS & Partnership Coordinator, Olivier Kabré facilitated the MIS trainings on international market behavior, market trend analysis, price trends, data collection and dissemination methods, cashew marketing and export policies, and overall economic development in the industry. Participants worked in groups to write their own market analysis based on current industry trends to present to various hypothetical stakeholders. The MIS and processors participants were then able to gather together at the end of the workshop and discuss areas of overlap and possible partnership opportunities within the industry.

Throughout the workshop, the importance of diverse stakeholders' roles was emphasized. The trainings were well received by all participants who will return to their factories with increased technical knowledge and market linkages. This workshop will be followed by five more throughout West Africa in 2015 and 2016 to complete the workshop series under ACA’s joint project with USAID WATIH.