Analysis Of Cashew Value Chains In Tamil Nadu Perspectives On Structure Governance And Rural Livelihood Opportunities

Abstract

Increasing awareness on food quality and personal health had changed the consumption newlinepattern over the years. Cashew (Anacardium Occidentale L.) is one among those nutritional newlinefoods that also earned considerable amount of foreign exchange through exports. Cashew newlinenut is one among country s top four agricultural exports along with basmati rice, spices newlineand tea. Cashew nut also provided huge employment opportunities especially for the newlinemarginal and small farmers and for women folk. India is one of the leading exporter of newlinecashew kernel over the years. It shared 18.67 per cent of global cashew production in 2017. newlineTamil Nadu ranked fourth in terms of area under cashew cultivation after Maharashtra, newlineAndhra Pradesh and Orissa. newlineValue chain included the stream of stakeholders through which a product reached the newlineconsumer. Value chain involved in the identification of value addition activities to the newlineproduct throughout the chain and delivered to the consumers. Value chain included newlinedifferent actors, formal and informal institutions, governance system, resource allocation newlineand employment of various actors. Many studies have been carried out on value chain, and newlinemarketing perspectives of cashew. In subject to Tamil Nadu, Balamurugan (2011) and newlineMurugamani (2016) studied the marketing aspects of cashew nut. Jeyaranjan et al. (2006) newlinestudied the value chain of cashew nut in social embeddedness perspectives. Harilal et al. (2006) newlinecarried out a research study to understand the livelihood support provided by cashew nuts newlineto the farmers and also in gender aspect. Tessmann et al. (2015) identified the competitive newlinestrength of relationship between the sellers and buyers of Raw Cashew Nut (RCN) in newlineIvory Coast and India. But none of the study attempted to understand all the three aspects newline(Structure, Governance and Livelihood opportunities) of the cashew value chain in newlineTamil Nadu. So this study intended to analyse the cashew value chains in Tamil Nadu in newlineperspectives of structure, governance and livelihood opportunities available for the cashew newlineva