Valency International Trading SARL

Region and country of operations: Africa, Cote d’Ivoire
Jurisdiction of registration: Cote d’Ivoire
Business sector: Agriculture

Date of agreement (month/year): 4/2022
Finnfund’s financing: USD 10,000,000
Share of Finnfund’s financing: 50%
Instrument: Loan
Size of project/financing: EUR 20,000,000
Environmental and social category: A

Project description

Valency International is an international Integrated Supply Chain management company in agri-commodities and agri-input sectors with subsidiaries in 15 countries and a diversified product portfolio. With this financing, the company is setting up a new state-of-the-art cashew processing plant to produce cashew kernel nuts and cashew nut shell liquid oil in Cote d’Ivoire. Through this investment, Valency is expected to become one of the largest cashew kernel nut processors in Cote d’Ivoire.

Main development impact

The project is expected to generate significant development impacts. Valency will increase domestic cashew nut processing capacity in Cote d’Ivoire, create quality jobs, particularly for low-skilled workers, especially women, and develop supply chains relying on smallholder cashew producers in rural areas.

Valency is committed to responsible business practices and to developing sustainability and transparency in the cashew supply chain. This includes, for instance, identifying and managing environmental and social risks, and climate risks.

Valency will work closely with smallholder farmer cooperatives and is committed to developing their cooperation with farmers and their organisations, as a clear majority of the cashews will be produced by smallholder farmers, mainly in the Eastern and Northern regions of Cote d’Ivoire.

With a processing capacity of 45,000 tons, the company is expected to generate approximately 2,000 direct jobs and cooperate and provide income for up to 10,000 smallholders. Due to the large capacity, the company is expected to reach up to 5% of the cashew farmers in the country.

In terms of managing climate risks, cashew trees are considered good crops to enhance resilience and adaptation to climate change, e.g. as a mean to prevent erosion. In some cases (e.g. degraded land), planting cashew trees can also be considered as climate mitigation.

The investment is expected to contribute to the development of sustainable cashew production and processing in Cote d’Ivoire. Previously, cashew has mainly been exported for processing to e.g. Vietnam and India. Valency’s processing unit will increase the value addition in Cote d’Ivoire and therefore improve the balance of payments, as well as strive to contribute to the overall economic growth of the country.

More information

https://www.valencyinternational.com/

Finnfund invests in Valency International to foster sustainable cashew production in Côte d’Ivoire

Last modified: September 2022