The high-tech route to success

"Increasing yields, meeting quality standards"

The Brong-Ahafo region in Western Ghana is home to the Wenchi Cashew Union. As part of the African Cashew Initiative (ACi) – the programme financed by BMZ, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and a number of European and US companies with a view to helping farmers boost competitiveness – the Union is currently testing an application developed by software manufacturer SAP. Based on smartphone and laptop technology, the application is designed to make the cashew value chain more transparent and more efficient.

Until now, handwritten documentation provided the only record of how many kilos of cashew nuts each farmer supplied to the Wenchi Cashew Union. Thanks to the new app, the sacks of cashews can now be scanned by smartphone and the weight logged under the farmer’s name on the mobile phone. The managing director of the Wenchi Cashew Union can also use the application to oversee stock, to know exactly how many cashews have been sold and by whom, and where a shipment can be dispatched for processing.