FX in global demand for cashew

THE GLOBAL CASHEW MARKET was valued at about $7.8 billion in 2018, and it is projected to grow by 15 percent this year.

This projected high growth is because while the United States consumes over 90 percent of the world’s

THE GLOBAL CA SHEW MARKET was valued at about $7.8 billion in 2018, and it is projected to grow by 15 percent this year.

This projected high growth is because while the United States consumes over 90 percent of the world’s cashew crop, there is actually a growing global demand for cashew nut. India’s and Vietnam’s rising needs for raw cashew nuts are fuelling the growth of cashew farming in West Africa, specifically, Côte d’Ivoire. I will come back to this.

Cashew nuts were first planted in the 1960s in West Africa. They were actually planted to fight desertification and soil erosion through agroforestry and to establish protected forest areas. This was because evergreen tropical trees can survive in difficult conditions.

It can grow in sandy soil and can grow up to 12 metres high and is highly recommended by environmentalist for reforestation programmes.

But cashew nuts have really come of age. In fact, cashew nut is an example of how cash crops can also generate revenue side by side oil. African countries produce about 45 percent or 1.2 million tonnes of global cashew nuts annually. However, the annual production of the crop by West African nations has been steadily growing at an average rate of 11 percent.

With the growing global demand for cashew nuts (the United States consumes over 90 percent of the world’s cashew nuts) what should African countries that have it in abundance do?

Cote d’Ivoire has seen this opportunity and is seriously tapping into it. The country is using cashew nuts as an example of how a locallygrown crop can generate extra government revenue while also creating jobs.

To the Ivorian economy, the cashew boom presents an unexpected but welcome opportunity to diversify agricultural exports beyond cocoa beans and rubber.

The government is helping the farmers. This they did with the establishment of Cote Conseil du Cotton et de l’Anacarde (CCA) or the Council for Cotton (CC), which is responsible for making sure that farmers are paid decent prices.

As a result of this government support, this year, Côte d’Ivoire produced over 600,000 tonnes of cashew nuts which is about 22 percent of the global production, placing the country as one of the world’s top producers of cashew nuts.

Now, coming back home (Nigeria), cashew nut was introduced into Nigeria by the Portuguese traders at around the 16th century. But the indigenes used it then in afforestation. The real cultivation began in the 1950s when it was first planted in Agege, Lagos; before it later spread to a few other parts of Nigeria.

With around 220,000 metric tonnes, Nigeria is the fourth largest producer of cashew nuts in the world, after India, Vietnam and Cote d’Ivoire.

With about 320,000 hectares land area being used for cashew nuts cultivation across Nigeria, cashew nuts is now a big produce as 75 percent of what is produced is exported.

Nevertheless, while cashew nuts can be grown in some states of Nigeria, the goldmine actually lies in the South West, followed by Kogi, Niger and Borno states.

However, the quality of cashew nuts in Nigeria differs; and this is largely based on the areas they are grown. Therefore, the bulk of quality cashew nuts in the South West comes from Oyo State, with Ogbomoso as the centre with the best qualities. This is because Ogbomoso has the best soil for cashew in Nigeria, hence its high quality. Also, Ogbomoso cashew nuts have far better commercial value than those from other areas in the country. In fact, it remains the best in the country.

In conclusion, to take real advantage of this viable agrocommodity, the government must tackle the major challenges.

In Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire, the major challenge lies in processing plants. There is a serious need to invest in processing plants. Another challenge/solution is the need to process these nuts locally.

But in the specific case of Nigeria, while there are many challenges, one of the major ones relate to the ports, which are the gateway for the movement of exportable cashew nuts to their destination of demand.

Traffic gridlock on the roads to Apapa and Tin Can ports in Lagos, has meant that trucks carrying containers with commodities meant for exports spend several weeks waiting to find their way into the ports. This causes considerable delay to commodities exporters, including those involved in cashew nuts export, reducing the chances of Nigerian farmers taking advantage of the increasing global demand for the commodity. These delays and transportation actually decrease the quality of the nuts, resulting in even a bigger disadvantage for Nigerian cashew exporters at the international commodities markets for cashew nuts.