Benchmarking the Competitiveness of Brazil’s Cashew Sector

Development Alternatives Incorporated (DAI) was contracted by USAID/Brazil in October of 2004 to implement the Micro and Small Enterprise Trade-Led Growth Program in the Northeast of Brazil with the aim of promoting export-led growth among MSEs in Northeast Brazil, ultimately resulting in increased incomes and employment.  DAI, in collaboration with the Foreign Trade Studies Center Foundation (FUNCEX), is presently conducting research and facilitating targeted interventions to increase competitiveness of MSEs in four sectors and increase MSE integration into the value chain. The objective of this workshop was to complement the value chain analysis already conducted by DAI in Brazil by producing a benchmarking study of the global cashew industry and identifying best practices in competitiveness.