Benin - Cashew Nuts Sector and Agricultural Entrepreneurship Development Support Project (PADEFA-ENA)

The present intervention concerns the Cashew Nuts Sector and Agricultural Entrepreneurship Development Support Project (PADEFA-ENA). The project will help, through a sector value chain and integration approach, to create an enabling environment for developing small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the cashew nut sector, for the employment of youths and women, and the creation of a sustainable impact on local development. The main expected outputs include: (i) re-profiling 145 km of access roads; (ii) building and equipping 5 RCN storage warehouses each with a capacity of one thousand tonnes; (iii) rehabilitating 15,000 ha of old cashew nut plantations and supporting the creation of a modern cashew orchard of 3,000 ha for an expected improved yield of 700 kg per hectare; (iv) supporting job creation, identified in the various links of the sector, for 10,000 youths and women; (v) supporting the construction and equipment of 20 satellite RCN shelling units for the benefit mainly of women and 20 walnut and cashew apple processing units; etc. The three (03) main components of the project are: (i) resilience of cashew producers and increased carbon sequestration potential; (ii) development of value chains; as well as (iii) project coordination and management.