Kololi, The Gambia, 28 August 2026 – The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), in partnership with the Food Safety and Quality Authority (FSQA), officially launched the “Enhancing Food Safety Practices to Unlock Market Access for Gambian Cashew” project at the African Princess Hotel in Kololi.
Funded by the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) with a grant of USD 798,000, the project seeks to strengthen The Gambia's food safety system and support the growth of a more competitive and export-oriented cashew sector.
Cashew is one of The Gambia's most promising agricultural commodities, with significant potential to contribute to export diversification, value addition, employment creation and rural development. Despite this potential, producers and processors continue to face challenges in meeting increasingly stringent food safety and quality requirements in international markets.
The project seeks to support national efforts to enhance food safety practices across the cashew value chain and work with public institutions, producer organizations, processors and other stakeholders to strengthen regulatory frameworks, improve food safety compliance and build the technical capacities required to meet international standards.
Speaking at the launch, the Minister of Trade, Regional Integration and Employment, Mod K. Ceesay, highlighted the strategic importance of the initiative for the country's agricultural transformation agenda.
"The Government recognises that developing a competitive cashew sector requires a coordinated approach through strengthening production, improving post-harvest handling, enhancing quality infrastructure and promoting value addition".
Welcoming the initiative, the Minister noted that it represents an important step towards improving the competitiveness of The Gambia's agricultural value chains and creating new opportunities for producers and processors to access regional and international markets.
Aichetou Ba, STDF Economic Affairs Officer, described the project as both timely and relevant, emphasizing its potential to improve the competitiveness and export performance of the Gambian cashew sector.
"The cashew sector has a lot of potential, but producers and processors still face difficulties in applying GAP and there is limited internationally recognised testing, calibration and certification services. These gaps make it difficult for The Gambia to comply with international requirements. The project aims to tackle these problems from several angles."
Gabor Molnar, UNIDO Industrial Development Officer, underscored the project's objective of strengthening food safety governance and national quality infrastructure systems.
"The project's objective is to strengthen The Gambia's food safety system for the cashew value chain by reinforcing regulatory frameworks, producer compliance, and national quality infrastructure in line with Codex and international market requirements."
As part of the launch event, stakeholders convened the project's first Steering Committee Meeting, during which members validated the Committee's Terms of Reference and activities planned for the inception period.
The project forms part of UNIDO’s broader efforts to strengthen The Gambia's quality infrastructure ecosystem and promote sustainable industrial development through improved standards, conformity assessment and food safety practices.
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