Photograph: the cohort at the award ceremony
Pilot cohort · 2026
[Example] Best processing-line cohort
Awarded by a partner factory to the learners with the highest first-time quality pass rate.
Masters360 · Côte d'Ivoire · Yamoussoukro
Training Africa's cashew industry of tomorrow
The reference centre for innovation
The CITA is the technical school for the cashew sector in Côte d'Ivoire.
- Location
- Yamoussoukro, Côte d'Ivoire
- Supervisory authority
- Conseil Coton Anacarde Karité
- Programmes
- 4 tracks, 3 levels
- Mode of training
- Practical, hands-on occupational skills, acquired both in the centre and at the workplace
Photograph: learners and a trainer at the shelling line
A technical school for the cashew sector
CITA in Yamoussoukro hosts the Côte d'Ivoire site of Masters360. The degree is awarded by CITA under its own accreditation; the Masters360 credential is issued alongside it.
Training is competency-based and dual: learners spend 35 to 45% of their time in the centre and 55 to 65% in the workplace. Taught in French, with shared modules in English.
The national ambition: local processing
The Conseil Coton Anacarde Karité, the regulatory body of the sector, has set the course: to process a growing share of the national harvest in Côte d'Ivoire and to add value to every part of the fruit. Skilled human capital is a condition of that ambition.
Not only the world's leading producer of cashew nuts, but also a leader in processing.
Mamadou Berté, Director General of the Conseil Coton Anacarde Karité, at the launch of SIETTA 2026. Translated from the French; wording to be confirmed by the Conseil.
- 43%
- of national production processed locally in 2025, against 6.2% in 2016.
- 659,000 t
- of raw cashew nuts processed in Côte d'Ivoire in 2025.
- More than 40
- processing units in operation nationally.
- 1 million t
- national processing objective for 2030.
Source: CCAK Directorate General, launch of SIETTA 2026.
Whom the school serves
- Industry and processors
- Continuing training for employees; placement of learners in partner factories; a supply of certified personnel for the sector.
- Students and young professionals
- Vocational qualifications leading to employment in the processing industry, from the micro-credential to the diploma.
- Producers and cooperatives
- Technical guidance on harvest, drying, storage and quality; training in cooperative management and governance.
- Cashew-producing countries
- A regional vocation: the school is intended to welcome learners from neighbouring and emerging producing countries.
Awards and recognition
Examples to show the layout; replace with CITA's own distinctions.
Photograph: the product and its makers
Incubator team · 2025
[Example] Innovation prize, Cajou Foodtech
For a cashew-apple product developed in the on-site incubator.
Latest news
All news- 12 to 14 November 2026SIETTA 2026 in Abidjan: processing beyond the kernelEvent
- 12 June 2025Globalisation is nutsThe Economist
- April 2025In a Nutshell: Agri-processing Adds Value in Côte d'Ivoire's Cashew IndustryWorld Bank
Next intake
- Entry
- 1 September 2027
- Applications open
- 1 September 2026
- Applications close
- 30 November 2026
- Decision
- 31 January 2027
Applications
Six short steps, saved as you go, from a phone. You will need a transcript, a degree certificate, an identity document and two referees.