Guinea-Bissau: farmers' concern over the coronavirus

Joaquim and Sambicté have adapted: transforming the juice of cashew apples into rum. (illustration image) RFI / Carine Frenk

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Guinea-Bissau has passed the 50 identified cases, all of community contagion. Authorities declared a 15-day state of emergency for the second time. This situation annoys the Bissau-Guineans who live day by day. The peasants are worried, with their cashew nuts that they cannot sell. Indians, potential buyers, are blocked at home by restrictive measures related to the fight against the coronavirus. And local economic operators are without money.

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With our correspondent in Bissau , Allen Yéro Embalo

Joaquim and Sambicté live in their cashew plantation, 35 km from Bissau. Last season the cashews brought them 2 million CFA (about 3,000 euros). The years go by but are not alike. The crops this year promised to be excellent, but the coronavirus is turning this family's dream into a nightmare.

Joaquim is worried. No grain of rice in his attic and yet his store is full of cashews. “  We have enough cashews, but we may not be able to sell them, due to the lack of buyers. And until when will it last? "

His wife Sambicté and their three children have found another solution: transform cashew juice into rum, which is very popular at the moment. The cashew apples are poured into a canoe-shaped kneader and using pestles they pound and press. The juice flows freely in carefully stored cans.

Local traders are all confined to their homes. The borders are closed Indian buyers are also blocked in their country because of the coronavirus. "  We cannot sit idly by until May. We want the state to be on the front line. He must girdle his kidneys and expect nothing from the sky,  ”said Mama Yéro Jamanca president of the Association of Cashew Exporters.

Guinea-Bissau exports around 200,000 tonnes of raw nuts each year, mainly to India. The State pockets for this 70 to 80 million dollars, a third of its annual budget.

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  • Agriculture and Fisheries
  • Coronavirus
  • Guinea-Bissau

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