Sonata Farmer Engagement

Every nut tells its own story, ranging from how it was grown, cracked open, processed, and then packed for final consumption. That story starts with hard-working farmers and processing workers, but many face real and present challenges in their day-to-day lives. That is why Sonata is setting realistic targets and goals to tackle the most pressing issues in the cashew supply chain, starting with farmer training and engagement to help empower them financially.

Nearly 40 percent of global raw cashew nuts (RCN) are produced by about 1.5 million small farmers in Africa. Here, cashew nut growing has improved the lives of these small-scale farmers significantly. They get more money from it than they would make from growing food crops or even cotton. The impact has transformed their lives.

To improve primary production, processing and market linkages along the value chain, Sonata regularly trains farmers on communities and cluster villages on best practices as well as how to maximize their earnings. This means each participant can gain the skills necessary to cultivate a more extensive and higher quality cashew harvest, improve livelihoods and incomes and broaden their family’s economic horizons.

US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has recognized Sonata’s commitment to improving the lives of smallholder
farmers and awarded grants to Sonata Nigeria and Sonata Cote D’Ivoire:

• to strengthen linkage with smallholder farmers
• to train farmers on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP)
• to train farmers on harvest and post-harvest techniques

Sonata’s inclusive growth approach farmer linkage program will impact positively over 35k families; between the years 2019 and 2022.