Media Release by Christopher D'Souza
Mangalore, Mar 21: Walter D'Souza, Convenor, Global Cashew Alliance and former Chairman of the Cashew Export Promotion Counicl of India(CEPCI), under the ministry of Commerce, Government of India has been nominated as the leader of the Indian delegation to attend the 1st Golden Vietnam Cashew Convention being held at Bin Phuoc, on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minn(Saigon) in Vietnam from 21st March to 23rd March, 2010. The other delegates from the Indian cashew industry are from the states of Kerala, Tamilnadu, Maharashtra, Delhi, Karnataka, Goa and Andhra Pradesh.
Walter D'Souza is attending the convention at the official invitation of The Vietnam Cashew Association(VINACAS), the National body of Vietnam. He has been invited to make two presentations on 1. The evolution of the Indian cashew Industry emerging as the world's largest domestic consumer over the last 2 decades and 2. The process of establishment of a Global Cashew Alliance (GCA) consisting of all stake holders.
It may be recalled that Walter D'Souza had initiated the thought-process for the formation of the first ever world body for cashews while he was the Chairman of the CEPCI, leading to the signing of a bilateral MoU with Vietnam at Ho Chi Minn and later a tripartite MoU with VINACAS and SINDICAJU of Brazil at Florida, USA. D'Souza was the signatory for both the MoUs on behalf of India. India, Vietnam and Brazil together account for over 90% of the cashew industry in the world. Since entering into MoUs with Vietnam and Brazil, there has been considerable interest from several other raw cashew harvesting countries of the world like Ivory Coast, Benin, Guinea Bissau, Nigeria, Ghana, Conakry, Tanzania, Kenya, Mozambique to join the GCA. The cashew consuming majors of the world like the USA, Canada, European Union, Australia have also expressed their interest in participating.
At the 2nd World convention of the African Cashew Alliance (ACA), supported by the Bill Gates Foundation held at Abidjan, Ivory Coast in September, 2009, Walter D'Souza was invited to make presentations on the important subject of forming the GCA with all stake holders from the farm to the shelf. He has had elaborate discussions with world leaders in cashew in various countries championing the cause of promoting cashews globally.
At the current Vietnam Cashew Convention, Walter D'Souza has been invited to share the Indian view point along with Bob Bauer, President of the American Food Industry (AFI) and Goretti Guasch, CEO of the International Nut & Dried Fruit Council (INC), two of the premier world bodies. It is expected that a blue-print will be drawn to promote and market cashews to match the growing production in the world, as a result of better yielding varieties at the plantations and the mechanization of the processing at the factories. The need of the hour is to strike a balance between supply and demand and to arrest the imminent possibility of a mis-match between the two leading to collosal losses at every stage. Strategies will be worked to strengthen the supply and value chains for cashews globally.
India has been for the last 60 years worlds largest producer (grower) of raw cashews, largest importer of raw cashews grown in other parts of the world, largest processor, exporter and second largest consumer. Even though Brazil is the pioneer, their production has not grown much. Vietnam, the emerging force, has overtaken India in the export segment, since there has been an exponential growth in the Indian domestic consumption during the last one decade. Indian leadership in the world cashew industry has been unparalleled since the inception of the industry and against this back-drop, the meetings Walter D'Souza has been invited to hold with world leaders in cashew are of great significance.