The Institute of Nuts of Mozambique signed an memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Thursday with the Gorongosa Restoration Project to plant 250,000 seedlings of cashew trees at the surrounding area of the Gorongosa National Park, the country’s largest, in central Mozambique.
Involving about 4,000 families in six neighbouring districts, the public-private initiative is aimed at restoring the flora and fauna of the region, and the first harvest of the nuts is expected to take place in 2023.
“It will improve life in the communities and lead the country to the processing and export of the cashew nuts product. The country will, therefore, accumulate revenues,” said the Director of the Institute of Nuts of Mozambique Ilidio Bande on the sidelines of the signing ceremony in Maputo.
Mozambique’s investment in the cashew production value chain is expected to increase production from the current 3.5 million to 10 million seedlings, through a large scale government project named SUSTENTA.
