Kona Agro Processing Ltd. - Accra, Ghana

Established in 2008, Kona Agro Processing Ltd is a Ghanaian company that processes cashew nuts to be sold and exported around the world. West Africa is one of the major producers of cashews, but does not benefit from the higher economic value of processing these nuts. Most of the raw nuts are shipped to South and Southeast Asia, which have the infrastructure to process them. Kona is part of a number of new cashew processing firms in West Africa that are working to bring economic benefit to the local level. With an installed capacity of 1,000 MT, the facility can source from at least 1,000 farmers and employ approximately 300 predominantly female employees. However, due to working capital constraints, Kona is currently utilizing less than 25% of its capacity. With the right financing, the company can operate at full capacity and benefit both the local community and the global economy.