The third agricultural export product in Burkina Faso, cashew nuts occupy a place in the industrialization of the country. It is considered a crop with strong economic potential and the fight against poverty in rural and urban areas. Women are increasingly active in this sector. They are the driving force behind the processing and marketing of cashew nuts.Friday, June 21, 2024. It is approximately 12:30 p.m. in sector No. 22 of Bobo-Dioulasso. We are at the cashew nut processing and marketing company, not far from the Guimbi Ouattara Regional Vocational High School to be precise. As soon as we cross the threshold of the gate, the roar of a large boiler greets us. "The steam leaves this boiler to reach the autoclave and the heat helps to weaken the cashew nut in order to facilitate shelling ," confides the promoter, Kadidia Diallo on the functionality of the machine. Step by step, Ms. Diallo explains the processing process. "The women ensure the quality of the nuts by raising all the debris that they pass t hrough the machine which is used to sift them according to their sizes ," continues the promoter.At the end of this stage, she indicates, the nuts pass through large roasters at a "very hot" temperature . According to Kadidia Diallo's explanations, this stage consists of putting the clean and shelled cashew nuts in a dry roaster for 20 to 25 minutes exposed to intense heat varying between 140 and 150°C. From this unit come products such as raw almonds and derivatives such as grilled and roasted almonds, spread, cooking paste, soap, almond biscuits, oily almond cake for livestock and even cooking charcoal made from the shell of the nuts.According to Kadidia Diallo, this semi-industrial unit specializing in the processing of cashew nuts was created in 2017 and today employs about 116 people including 109 women. Due to the scarcity and high cost of raw materials on the market, the factory, says Ms. Diallo, is running at a slow pace. According to her, these problems are due to the abusive export of raw cashew nuts to foreign markets. "The second problem is linked to the poor quality of raw nuts available on the market and insufficient control initiatives on the market," she says.Active womenIn Diarradougou, a neighborhood located on Avenue de la Liberté in sector N°1 of the city of Sya, we witness a work chain on the edge of two twinned stores. In a favorable atmosphere, men unload trucks filled with several tons of cashew nuts. While women ensure the quality of the cashew nuts by removing the bad seeds.From picking nuts in the fields, to sorting the seeds, through processing to marketing cashew nuts, women are all over the chain. These women are active in formal and informal cashew businesses. With a profit of 400 CFA francs per bag, Sali Ouattara sorts raw cashew nuts at one of the city's traders. Dame Ouattara removes plant debris and bad nuts such as immature, atrophied, empty, pitted or moldy nuts in order to obtain a good quality product suitable for marketing.According to her, this work that she ha s been doing for five years allows her to relieve some household expenses a little. "This work allows us to have a little money to take care of some household needs ," she says with a smile. From one site to another, the observation is the same. In sector no. 15, not far from Marodi station, about 50 meters from Nelson Mandela Avenue, in a cashew nut processing unit, women do the same tasks: sorting, cleaning, bagging, etc. For Aminata Ouédraogo, it is a somewhat restrictive work that they are forced to do, she says, in the hope of having their contracts renewed. "The work is enough for us, normally we were supposed to limit ourselves to sorting only, but we are asked to put away these bags, it is very tiring ," she says. This chain of women's work is far from over, because some of them are specialized in sales.An income-generating activityFresh cashew nuts, roasted and roasted in packages with or without commercial signs, on tables along the street. We are on the eastern side of the large market of Bobo -Dioulasso. Women are looking for their daily bread, for the latter, the sale of cashew nuts is "very beneficial and profitable" . Beyond this wealth that the sale of cashew nuts provides to women, it is a sustainable activity that has lasted for decades.Charifatou Sanou, inherited the sale of cashew nuts from her mother. "We were born and raised in the sale of cashew nuts, we inherited that from our mothers ," she tells us enthusiastically. For Korotimi Manasé, the sale of processed cashew nuts is very profitable. On the Boulevard de l'Indépendance, women run behind passengers to offer their different products. Among these products, there are also cashew nuts that they sell at the price of 4,000 and 6,000 CFA francs per kilogram.According to Korotimi Manasé, after purchasing the shelled nuts in the units, they put them in oil to obtain a reddish color and a crispy taste. It is after these steps that they put them in packages for sale. Despite the savings that this sector generates for women, they face ma jor risks related to the lack of protection at work. This is evidenced by the injuries to the fingertips of some women and the burned hands of the shellers working in some processing units. These injuries are caused by the contact of bare hands with the cashew nut which contains a dangerous liquid.On the city's main roads, the women selling roasted cashew nuts are at even greater risk. They are exposed to the risk of accidents that often result in death. "One day, while I was selling, a customer approached me from the other side of the road, and as I was trying to cross to join him, a car knocked me over ," says Korotimi Manasé, who was the victim of an accident while selling. Despite these enormous risks, Korotimi Manasé and her comrades say they have no other way out and intend to remain resilient to face difficulties.Initiatives to boost the sectorAccording to the director of the Burkinabe Cashew Council (CBA), Ouéhimié Clément Attiou, it is necessary to strengthen the regulation of the marketing ci rcuit of raw cashew nuts in Burkina Faso and market control operations in order to overcome the problems linked to abusive export and the marketing of bad raw cashew nuts.For him, the market control system will be strengthened through regulation and better monitoring of the marketing circuit of raw cashew nuts. " This is why the CBA has initiated a series of training and awareness-raising sessions for producers on good agricultural and post-harvest practices. This could help improve the quality of nuts placed on the market ," he emphasizes.The CBA, continues its director, contributes to providing advisory support in the field of production, processing, marketing, and promotion of cashew nuts by continuing the operation of grouping producers into cooperative societies to collectively negotiate prices with traders or buyers to enable them to have more negotiating power and obtain fairer prices. "The CBA foresees the development of alternative markets through the exploration of new markets for raw or process ed cashew nuts, in addition to traditional markets," confides the director of the CBA.According to him, the success of the fight against non-compliance with the price of raw cashew nuts and the support of stakeholders in the cashew sector is based on "close" collaboration between the various stakeholders, including producers, traders, processors, public authorities and technical and financial partners. As a reminder, the floor price for the 2023-2024 cashew nut campaign was set at 310 CFA francs per kilogram of raw nuts by a joint decree of the ministers responsible for trade and agriculture.Source: Burkina Information Agency