Dilmah’s MJF Centre East opens Cashew Processing Centre for Smallholders

A combined ecosystem restoration and livelihood improvement project – Greening Batticaloa – was designed and initiated by Dilmah Conservation in 2010. It had the objective of partnering with local communities to restore some of the flora that was lost during the preceding conflict in the East of Sri Lanka while eventually improving livelihoods. Nurseries were established and one million cashew plants prepared and distributed to families in the East with the promise that as they care for the plants, the plants would eventually care for them by providing income, Dilmah said in a media release.

Cashew is a valuable cash crop with a shady canopy resilient to the very dry climate in the area. Dilmah Conservation worked with scientists to identify cashew as ideal to ease economic hardships and environmental devastation that following the Tsunami and Civil unrest in the East. Thus, began a 10-year mission to establish 1 million cashew trees through the Greening Batticaloa Programme in Kalkudah. Fulfilling the promise that Dilmah Founder Merrill J. Fernando made to the first recipients of the cashew plants in 2010, on his 92^nd birthday - 06^th May 2022 - Dilmah reached a milestone in this initiative with the opening of a cashew processing centre by the Merrill J Fernando Charitable Foundation in its eastern MJF Centre for Dignified Empowerment.

Today, acres of small farmer-owned and fully-grown cashew trees have sprung up in the locations where the saplings were planted producing over 50MT of cashew, a sizeable harvest of the valuable crop. Beneficiaries will have their own facility for cashew processing to hull, roast and add value to their produce and benefit from higher income. The MJF Foundation Cashew processing centre brings added benefits to the community including better quality control with new and high quality equipment and facilities, better market access facilitated by Dilmah and its affiliated companies, better employment opportunities, and greater return for their effort.

The newly opened cashew processing centre will carry out the cutting, peeling, drying and packing processes to deliver a market-ready product. MJFCF East, is one of several MJF Centres established by Dilmah in fulfillment of its commitment to serve humanity through itsbusiness. The MJF Foundation has an overriding objective of empowering marginalised communities with dignity and will employ ten women from its Women’s Development Programme for the task.

Mark Patterson, Centre Manager, MJF Charitable Foundation - Centre East said, “In a time when economic challenges are faced by communities in Valachchenai and around our Centre we are glad to have come up with this strategy to support their efforts for generating additional income through cashew processing”.

The 10 women have been trained in the necessary skills and on-the-job training by Forbes and Walker (F&W) Pvt Ltd. Previously, MJF Centre East facilitated the sale of raw cashew directly from farmers to Forbes and Walker Pvt Ltd which will now purchase the processed cashew at a premium.