Cashew Export
Cashew nuts are the second-largest source of foreign exchange earnings from agricultural exports in Côte d'Ivoire after cotton, with an annual output of nearly 140,000 tons. According to the price determined after the Ivorian ministerial meeting on March 30, 2022, the transaction price of raw cashew nuts in Côte d'Ivoire for the 2021/2022 agricultural season is set at 350 CFA francs/kg. This marks a change in the purchase price of Ivorian raw cashew nuts from the previous three consecutive agricultural seasons. Recovering from a decline, prices this agricultural season have increased by 50 CFA francs compared to the previous season.
Cashew farming in Côte d'Ivoire employs 200,000 people. While Ivorian agriculture has not yet given production forecasts for the new season, many observers estimate the 2022 cashew harvest will be between 130,000 and 150,000 tons.
In Africa, Côte d'Ivoire is one of the main cashew producers in the West African subregion, along with Nigeria and Guinea-Bissau. West Africa accounts for 45% of the world's total cashew production, half of which is in Côte d'Ivoire. South Asia, particularly India, Vietnam, and Cambodia, also accounts for around 45% of world production, but the region concentrates 90% of the cashew processing industry. In addition, Tanzania, Mozambique, Indonesia, and Brazil produce the remaining 10%.
Africa is the largest producer of cashew nuts in the world, but unlike South Asia, Africa has not yet been able to establish a mature cashew nut processing industry. The same goes for Côte d'Ivoire. In a typical year, foreign buyers purchase 80 percent of Côte d'Ivoire's raw cashews, while another 20 percent are processed locally. However, in the past two years, as the new COVID-19 epidemic forced the Ivorian government to close the border and restrict movement in stages, foreign buyers found it difficult to participate in the launching ceremony of the Ivorian cashew buying season in time, resulting in market uncertainty and fluctuations in local raw cashew prices.
Therefore, maintaining price stability, upgrading the cashew nut industry chain, and promoting local cashew nut processing have become the determined development direction of the cashew nut industry in Côte d'Ivoire.
