OUR VALUE CHAIN
GAMBIA
The Gambia situated on the Atlantic Coast is one of the smallest countries in Africa. It is surrounded by the neighbouring country of Senegal.
Cashew was first introduced in The Gambia in the 1960s as an agroforestry crop, planted around forestry boundaries as a firebreak. In the 1980s the Ministries of Agriculture and Forestry promoted the cultivation of the crop on a large scale as a means of protecting the environment and providing an economic benefit to farmers. Gambian cashew production is relatively small compared to the world leaders in raw cashew nut production.
Direct Procurement Programme in Gambia
Direct Procurement Programme is an initiative where our expert team of buyers supervises all procurement and quality-related activities at the origin. We began our procurement activities in 2016 with both procurement and shipping activities based out of Banjul, the capital of the country.
“Alphonsa is one of the largest procurers of raw cashew in Gambia (on actual user basis).”
Cashew growing regions in Gambia
In The Gambia, production takes place on both sides of the River. On the Southern side production is concentrated around Brikama, 30 km south to Banjul. On the North Bank cultivation areas extend a considerable distance upstream. Overall, an estimated 20,000 hectares is under cashew cultivation in the country.
Sustainable and responsible procurement in Gambia.
Raw cashew nuts are predominately grown in economically fragile areas. Our intent is to procure the nuts in a manner that safeguards the communities’ social fabric and environmental resources. As a processor, we depend on our procurement supply chains to process the finest quality cashew kernels. Our goal is to secure high-quality raw cashew nut from as close to the source as possible. This involves partnering with smallholder farmers to help improve their productivity, profitability and providing good working conditions which attract and retain people in agriculture.
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