The main cashew producing regions of the world are Africa, India, Vietnam and Brazil.
cashew nut is a major product for millions of small-scale farmers in these regions of the world while large scale producers maintain Cashew plantations. Worldwide the annual production is about 2.1 million tons of raw cashew nuts (RCN) with an estimated value of US$ 1.5 -2 billion.
The world demand for cashew is growing strongly in terms of volume and value. Prospects of growth are also high.
The destination countries for buyers from US and Europe are India, Vietnam, Africa and Brazil.
Currently 40% of the cashew world production of Raw Cashew Nuts (RCN) is produced in Africa. Only 10% gets processed (shelling and peeling) in cashew kernels in Africa though. The rest gets processed in mainly India and Vietnam followed by Brazil. Therefore a lot of value in the value chain is lost for Africa. The African smallholders have very low yield. The average yield lies between 400-500 kg/hectare in Africa. The world average yield however is 840 kg/he tare.
The interest in the sources for the African continent have intensified in the past 2-3 years. Major actors from India, Vietnam, China, Brazil and Europe are exploring the opportunities to invest in large scale mechanized processing.
Furthermore, the processors abroad are focused on traceable supply chains based on sustainability.
This clearly indicates that the Cashew Value Chain should be developed in Africa. There is also a growing interest in the major production area Africa and Nigeria is the largest producer in Africa.
However, the competitive disadvantage of Africa as far as processing is concerned, will change when full scale mechanization is implemented. Cashew processors worldwide are mindful of the fact that the cashew supply chain must be secure and sustainable in order to ensure the processing facilities operate optimally.
From all data available, the Cashew industry has a huge development potential in Nigeria more so as the country is the largest producer in Africa.
Potential Cashew nut entrepreneurs, feel free to contact us for more information on how you can key into the Cashew business in Nigeria.
