In a boost to the cashew sector in the country, Intersnack, a leading manufacturer of snacks in the European market, will buy dried cashew products from the Cambodian Agricultural Cooperative Corporation (CACC).

An agreement was signed between CACC, Singapore-based Intersnack and Agricultural Cooperatives from Preah Vihear Province for this purpose. The memorandum of understanding (MoU) aims to promote Cambodian cashews in foreign countries.

The tri-party MoU on the supply of dried cashew nuts was signed last week by Kan Kunthy, CACC Managing Director, Wim Schipper, Procurement Director of Intersnack, and the representative of Agricultural Cooperatives in Preah Vihear province.

The signing ceremony was held in the presence of Mey Kalyan, Senior Advisor of the Supreme National Economic Council and Chairman of the CACC Board of Directors, Thon Sorita, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Preah Vihear Province and Song Saran, CEO of Amru Rice and member of CACC Board of Directors.

Under the MoU, farmers are the producers and CACC is the coordinator of drying, buying, selling, and exporting, while Intersnack is the buyer of dried cashew products from CACC.

“The MoU will benefit nearly 2,000 smallholder farmers by not only providing them a stable market but also making a significant contribution to the promotion of Cambodian cashew nuts in the international market,” read the press statement issued last Friday.

CACC and Agricultural Cooperatives from Preah Vihear Province also signed another agreement on contract farming for cashew nuts. This will benefit agricultural cooperatives from three districts of Preah Vihear province, Rovieng, Chey Sen and Choam Ksant, on the production and supply of 1,700 tonnes of raw and dried cashew nuts.

All the farming communities have been established and managed by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Preah Vihear Province and the Agricultural Cooperatives are supported by the International Volunteers of Yamagata, a Japanese fund since 2016.

The Kingdom exported 425,977 tonnes of raw cashew nuts last year, down 9.9 percent on a year-on-year basis, according to a Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries report.

The government has enacted the National Policy on Cashew Nuts for 2022-27 which aims to increase production of value-added cashews, giving hope to the farmers.