This paper examines the current realities of Nigeria’s Cashew Economy as it relates to the growth and value chain expansion paradigm. To this end, this paper looks at how Nigeria’s socio-political and economic realities has propelled the national economic thrust towards further enhancement of gains and profitability of commercial crops such as cashew as means of generating more gainful employment, foreign exchange and sustainable economic growth. Also, focus will be on how the National Cashew Association of Nigeria, an umbrella body for Nigeria’s Cashew Industry is impacting the growing interest on cashew as a profitable agribusiness in Nigeria. This paper likewise evaluates the issues that constitute major constrain to the rapid growth of the cashew agribusiness in Nigeria. Lastly, this paper articulates the practical approaches that will facilitate the enabling of a sustainable positive growth of the cashew agribusiness in Nigeria.

1. Nigerian cashew economy: Dimensions to growth paradigm
Sotonye Anga
National Publicity Secretary, National Cashew Association of Nigeria
Coordinator Agribusiness, Community of Agricultural Stakeholders of Nigeria
anga4000@yahoo.com
Abstract
This paper examines the current realities of Nigeria’s Cashew Economy as it
relates to the growth and value chain expansion paradigm. To this end, this
paper looks at how Nigeria’s socio-political and economic realities has
propelled the national economic thrust towards further enhancement of gains
and profitability of commercial crops such as cashew as means of generating
more gainful employment, foreign exchange and sustainable economic growth.
Also, focus will be on how the National Cashew Association of Nigeria, an
umbrella body for Nigeria’s Cashew Industry is impacting the growing interest
on cashew as a profitable agribusiness in Nigeria. This paper likewise evaluates
the issues that constitute major constrain to the rapid growth of the cashew
agribusiness in Nigeria. Lastly, this paper articulates the practical approaches
that will facilitate the enabling of a sustainable positive growth of the cashew
agribusiness in Nigeria.
Key words: Agribusiness, Cashew, Commerce, Commercial Farming, Economy,
India, Nigeria, Vietnam,
Introduction
Cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.), a tropical nut tree crop which serves as a source of
food, income, industrial raw materials and foreign exchange for many countries in Africa,
Asia and Latin America, originated in Latin America, specifically North-eastern Brazil
(Ohler, 1979). Apart from being a source of useful products and by-products for food,
pharmaceutics and other industrial applications, cashew provides useful shade as
ornamental and alley trees, and cashew trees are suitable for the control of soil erosion,
1

2. particularly for the protection of watersheds and dams (Ezeagu, 2002). Historically,
Portuguese explorers introduced cashew to parts of Africa and Asia from where it spread
to other parts of the world and presently it is produced in thirty-two countries with
sufficient warm and humid climatic conditions (Adeigbe, et al., 2015). For over four
hundred years after the Portuguese traders’ introduction of cashew into Nigeria in the 16th
century (Woodroof, 1967), cashew trees were exploited mainly for its apple, and mostly
no commercial value was attached to the nuts (Aliyu, 2012). According to Ezeagu
cultivation of cashew in Nigeria started in the early 1950s, through the efforts of the then
Eastern Nigeria Agricultural Development Corporation where the initial objective was to
use cashew trees for erosion control, because of the massive erosion problems in that part
of the country (2002). However the designation of cashew nuts as potential revenue-
earning commodity propelled the defunct Eastern Nigeria Government to commence the
first Nigerian cashew plantation which dates back to 19541
, with 800 hectares in the
present Enugu State whereas 200 hectares in the Western part of Nigeria was similarly
established by defunct Western Nigeria Government (Ezeagu, 2002). Regardless, cashew
production did not greatly increase during the early 60s, with harvests not exceeding 200
tonnes. Nonetheless, since the deregulation of Nigeria’s economy in 1986, its production
has substantially increased (Ezeagu, 2002).
Currently, cashew farming has grown remarkably, and it is cultivated in all geo-political
zones of Nigeria at different proportions. Evidently, the major cashew growing areas in
Nigeria are in Enugu, Abia, Imo, Anambra, Ebonyi and Cross River States in the eastern
part of the country; Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti and Ogun States in the Western part; Edo and
Delta States in the Niger Delta; Kwara, Kogi, Nassarawa, Benue, Taraba, Niger and FCT
in the Middle Belt, and Sokoto and Kebbi States in the Northwest part of the country
(NEPC, 2015). Statistically, cashew farming is at its lowest in northeast part of Nigeria,
whereas the bulk of exported nuts come from the Eastern, Western and Middle belt states
1
The first commercial cashew plantation in Nigeria was inaugurated in the mid 1950 at Ogbe, Oji, Udi and
Mbala by the defunct Eastern Nigeria Development Corporation (ENDC), and Iwo, Eruwa as well as upper
Ogun by defunct Western Nigeria Development Corporation (WNDC) (Akinwale and Esan, 1989; Asogwa,
et al., 2009).
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3. (NEPC, 2015). Government of Nigeria estimates the area under cashew production as
375,000 ha in 2003 as against 278,000 ha in 1999 and this is about 8% annual increase of
the area under cultivation over a period of four years (Nugawela, et al, 2005). Also
looking back at the cashew economy, women were engaged in factory processing work
such as shelling, peeling, grading, and packing cashew kernels and earn comparatively a
stable income, the main driver of change however, is the existence of an increasing
export market for raw nuts and the potential market for processed nuts both locally and
internationally (Nugawela, et al, 2005). In recent times, there has been a steady increase
in Nigeria’s annual cashew nut production. A survey carried out by the Nigeria
Component of the West African Cashew Survey, in February 2001, under the auspices of
the Sustainable Tree Crop Project (STCP) funded by Common Fund for Commodities,
indicated that a much larger surface have been planted with cashew between 1995 and
2000 (Ezeagu, 2002). By 2013, Nigeria was listed one of the top ten Raw Cashew Nut
(RCN) producing countries in the world, with a production figure of approximately
150,000 metric tonnes export grade cashew nuts, and Nigeria is adjudged the 3rd
largest
producer in Africa after Cote d’Ivoire and Tanzania, and 7th
largest in the world (NEPC,
2015). In 2013 cashew was recorded as the third largest agricultural export and foreign
exchange earner for Nigeria, and about $110 million was earned by exporters from
cashew, which represents about 10% of all agricultural export (NEPC, 2015).
Noteworthy, Nigeria’s cashew export majorly was imported by Singapore, India,
Vietnam, UAE, and Hong Kong in 2013 and 2014 (NEPC, 2015). According to
Nugawela, et al, (2005) Vietnam and Indian have since the 1990s been the leading buyers
of Nigerian cashew nuts, and Tola Faseru2
(personal communication, 2015), observes that
both countries are currently the biggest importers of cashew nuts from Nigeria. Similarly,
the demand for Nigeria’s cashew kernels in international markets such as USA, United
Kingdom, Germany, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Spain and Italy is growing (Tola Faseru,
personal communication, 2015). According to Nguyen Duc Thanh, chairman of the
Vietnam Cashew Association, despite Vietnam enjoying a bumper cashew crop last year,
2
Tola Faseru is the current president of National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN). He granted
interview to Aniago, E. on Feb., 2015 on the topic Expanding Cashew Economy in Nigeria
3

4. when output topped 500,000 tonnes, Vietnam imported 769,390 tonnes in 2014, a year-
on-year increase of 59.28 per cent, to process for export. Consequently, Nigeria was the
second largest supplier to Vietnam in 2014, selling 106,734 tonnes or 13.4 per cent of
Vietnam’s imports (Vietnam News, 2015).
The cashew agribusiness in Nigeria comprising of trading and exports is projected to
worth twenty-four billion naira ($160 million) as at 2014 and over one million people
depend on the industry for their livelihood either majorly or to a degree (Adeigbe, et al.,
2015). Based on informed forecast Tola Faseru (personal communication, 2015) notes
that cashew is projected to contribute about, fifty billion Naira which is around $251
million to Nigeria’s economy in the year 2015. The significant rise in earnings and
revenue makes cashew a major economic focus of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture
and other concerned stakeholders. Interestingly, Nigeria’s growth gains in cashew
production is partly attributable to The Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN),
which has the mandate to research into cashew, and has developed an improved variety
of cashew called ‘Brazilian Jumbo’ with nuts maturing within one year, in contrast to the
local wild varieties which mature after five years (Ezeagu, 2002).
Overview of cashew growth and economy in Nigeria
This paper is derived from an analytical review of the National Cashew Association of
Nigeria secretariat’s policy approach to the promotion of the growth of cashew business
in Nigeria, the secretariat’s findings on the prevailing realities of cashew business in
Nigeria, the Nigerian government Agribusiness policy as it concerns cashew business in
Nigeria, as well as the National Cashew Association of Nigeria’s articulations on how to
further drive the growth and inclusiveness of cashew business in Nigeria in a manner that
promotes decent income generation and livelihood for Nigerian youths, women and men
(NEPC, 2015). Mostly, the material for this overview is generated from NCAN
secretariat’s in-house discoveries in the field in conjunction with its collaboration with
the cashew farmers, traders, processors, and relevant Nigerian government agencies and
policy makers. In discussion portrayal, descriptive analysis was used to analyze socio-
4

5. economic characteristics of respondents, marketing practices and experiences of
respondents as well as the prevailing challenges to cashew agribusiness in Nigeria. In
attempt to discuss the topic Nigerian Cashew Economy: Dimensions To Growth
Paradigm, this paper focuses primarily on the following themes: what has led to the
designation of cashew as a major commercial crop in the present Nigerian agribusiness
economic policy thrust, and how to further enhance the present state of cashew commerce
in Nigeria to attain the status of the largest cashew hub in the world in tandem with
Nigeria’s massive economic potential. To appreciate the plausible genesis of the
designation of cashew as a cash crop from its predominant status as a family fruit tree,
the ongoing efforts to propel cashew to the position of a huge commercial crop, we need
to appreciate the socio-economic realities that necessitated the current focus on cashew.
Essentially, the evolution of cashew as a robust industry, developing into what we may
refer to as Cashew Economy in Nigeria and the trajectories of this industry form the
thematic focus. What do we mean by the expression Cashew Economy in Nigeria?
Cashew economy in Nigeria represents the various activities of people in relation to
cashew in Nigeria, covering areas such as cashew farming, buying and selling of cashew
between farmers and produce buyers, cashew processing, utilization and optimization of
the value chain, and cashew research and development related activities. Culmination of
activities from the period Nigerian cashew farmers began planting cashew trees with the
sole purpose of nurturing them for harvest and sales as viable profit making venture. We
can also say that cashew economy in Nigeria is about how cashew has become a focal
point by the policy makers as a major crop to be developed into a major commercial agro
crop for domestic and foreign markets. There are evidence of some imported cashew
kernels in big supermarket outlets and wholesale markets in Lagos. Supermarkets
surveyed in a 2003/2004 New Nigerian Foundation (NNF) study on domestic
consumption, indicates an increasing demand (Nugawela, et al, 2005). To this, Tola
Faseru (personal communication, 2015), observes that presently more supermarket
outlets in Lagos, Abuja and other capital cities are having varieties of imported kernels
displayed on their shelves. To sufficiently appreciate the current state of cashew business
5

6. in Nigeria there is need to look back at the state of cashew utilization in the past and
efforts of cashew stakeholders such as The National Cashew Association of Nigeria
(NCAN), Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Nigerian Export Promotion Council, and
Nigerian Export and Import Bank, at promoting the cashew business agenda. Thus the
evolution of cashew in Nigeria from a mere leisure edible fruit tree for immediate family
members, relatives and friends, to a cash crop that generates minimal amount of money
from time to time, into a commercial crop which is deliberately planted, nurtured
properly, harvested and processed with best global practices and sold to traders who
either sell them in the domestic or foreign market. Similarly discussion on cashew
evolution and economy in Nigeria cannot be complete without understanding the
challenges that confront the cashew commerce in Nigeria and the practical methods
through which such challenges could be overcome.
Cashew industry stakeholders’ views
Stakeholders in cashew industry in Nigeria such as Federal Ministry of Agriculture,
National Cashew Association of Nigeria, The Raw Material Research and Development
Council, USAID NEXTT, CRIN, Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment, and The
Nigerian Export Promotion Council are of the view that the cashew economy in Nigeria
should have advanced much further than its current state if the previous governments at
both the States and Federal level had not allowed the over dependence on oil dollar to
hamper the continuation of a robust cashew development plan. In line with this view,
Akinwunmi Adesina (personal communication) in his presentation at the 19th
Nigerian
Economic Summit tagged Growing Agriculture as a Business to Diversify Nigeria’s
Economy noted that in the 1960’s Nigeria used to be a market to be reckoned with in the
area of agriculture. However, the discovery of oil has made Nigeria neglect agriculture
and the nation has become a net importer of food” including cashew (NESG, 2013). The
current focus back to commercial crops such as cashew is because “the future of earning
from crude oil export is not bright” thus Nigeria must free herself from the dependence
on crude oil and concentrate on agriculture as it has enormous opportunities to increase
the country’s GDP (NESG, 2013). This encapsulates the policy focus of Nigeria in recent
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7. years because Nigeria’s potentials are centred on being “blessed with eighty-four million
hectares of arable land, of which only 40% is cultivated” (NESG, 2013). Similarly,
Nigeria has two of the largest rivers in Africa in addition to availability of cheap labour
and huge market population of 167 million people (NESG, 2013). Clearly, based on the
need to diversify the means of earning foreign exchange for Nigeria, the Nigerian
Government began the process of enhancing the enabling environment for agribusiness
such as cashew to thrive by coming up with the Nigerian Agricultural Transformation
Agenda [ATA], which is mandated with an objective of turning agriculture into a
moneymaking business and away from being a development project (NESG, 2013). The
Nigerian Agricultural Transformation Agenda prioritizes on the need to:
Revive the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria to enhance
coordination of research activities across the different agricultural research
institutions in Nigeria. This reform should be focused on ensuring that
agro-research activities are driven by market demands, and should foster
deeper linkages between the research institutions and the private sector.
The reform of the council should also be geared towards increasing overall
R & D spends in agriculture, and ensuring that such spend is optimally
utilized (NESG, 2013).
In addition to this policy mandate stated above, the Nigerian Agricultural Transformation
Agenda encapsulates the need to:
Increase efforts at raising the level of awareness of agriculture as a highly
profitable business venture. To address the issues of an aging farmer
population and the poor perception of farming as an occupation amongst
Nigerian youths. Considerable efforts must go into increasing the
attractiveness of the sector through awareness campaigns. Such campaigns
will focus on celebrating the successes of youth farmers and the
enlightenment on incentives in place to enable new investors in agriculture
to succeed (NESG, 2013).
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8. Also, as part of the enabling environment which will formally institutionalize the private
enterprise driven agribusiness which includes cashew, the Nigerian Government began
the process of establishing commodities exchange to expand agricultural markets.
According to the 19th
Nigerian Economic Summit report, financing agribusiness to
guarantee a successful industry transformation means securing affordable financing for
agricultural projects is crucial for the development of the industry (NESG, 2013). This
also is an enabling environment for cashew commerce to thrive. According to NCAN, it
has domesticated the effort of the Federal Government of Nigeria in transforming the
agricultural fortunes in Nigeria, articulated in The Nigerian Agricultural Transformation
Agenda in its cashew economy agenda. The growing synergy between NCAN and
Federal Government of Nigeria’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda is yielding
positive results. Hence, cashew farmers and business community are reporting progress
and profits in their ventures. From its own perspective, NCAN contends that its deliberate
approach at creating and sustaining awareness in relation to cashew business has gone a
long way at keeping the cashew stakeholders abreast with current happenings in cashew
business opportunities within the domestic and foreign markets. NCAN contends that its
effort has not only provided the cashew stakeholders with the necessary information
essential for the optimal gains in cashew economy in Nigeria, but has encouraged those
individuals who are not presently in cashew business to join. NCAN believes that
information is the key to informed approach to cashew business, thus it is going on with
networking and coordination of efforts through seminars, conferences, extension
programmes, farmer trainings, capacity building for cashew processors, traders, exporters
and promotions through mass media. Despite the encouraging facts and figures, NCAN is
of the view that more work need to be done to further enhance the gains of cashew
economy in Nigeria. Whereas the Federal Government is interested in making foreign
exchange through export, NCAN also thinks that domestic market has a lot of potential
for Nigeria because of the size of the population and economy. Hence, the campaign
towards the development of the domestic market as a means of harnessing the enormous
potential from cashew value chain, through more investments in production and in
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9. industrial processing of all by products of cashew. No doubt, this will create more
meaningful jobs, enhance people’s well-being, and make Nigeria’s cashew finished
products more available in both our local and international market. We believe that with
cashew, we can truly make a difference and create greater prosperity. Considering the
size of Nigeria’s population, it is possible for us to build a domestic market that will
consume over 50% of cashew nuts produced in all of Africa by encouraging only 20% of
our population to consume 400 grammes of cashew kernels each month, this will bring
our domestic consumption to 13,600,000,000 grammes (13,600tons) and in 12 months we
will be consuming 163,200 tons of cashew kernels. Meaning, we will require 652,800
tons of raw cashew nuts to service just our domestic needs alone. In line with making this
projections a reality, NCAN started the ‘eat cashew campaign’ in 2012. An expanded
project for the campaign will be launched in 2016.
Conclusions
The main factors influencing production and harvesting performance of cashew in
Nigeria includes several internal and external factors. However, most of the factors
influencing production, harvesting, processing, and export of cashew include market
price of the product, low yield, climatic conditions, competition amongst the local buying
agents, product quality, diseases, pests, fire outbreaks, and high cost of cashew
processing. Evidently, commensurate pricing plays a major role in the production of
cashew because it encourages the farmers who are assured of getting proportionate value
for their efforts. Therefore higher prices act as incentives to farmers, although over
pricing could be a problem, the government should ensure that price slump is avoided
through proper regulatory policies. As it concerns yield, low crop yield is a big challenge
in Nigeria. The development and commercial multiplication and planting of high yielding
cashew variety with yields of at least 1.5 tons per hectare will help improve productivity
and profitability and get more farmers turn to cashew cultivation. In relation to climatic
conditions, the better the weather during the flowering season, the better the harvest.
Particularly, when there is shortfall in rainfall or sunshine, the quality of the cashew is
lowered. Hence in the period of adverse weather condition, government should have in
9

10. place adequate cushioning to guide against farmers going out of business. Based on
careful observation of the cashew market realities, local cashew buying agents play a
very important role in the cashew supply chain in Nigeria, and there is the inclination for
production to increase whenever there are more local buying agents trying to secure
supplies. The usefulness of the agents is evident in their individual efforts in attempting
to penetrate villages in producing areas, in a bid to source supplies. Hence, government
could provide employment to youths by encouraging them to become supply agents
through soft starter loans to commence sourcing of products. The benefit of this is that
competition amongst cashew supply agents, especially when export prices are attractive,
tends to develop between established buyers and local firms. On product quality, NCAN
encourages farmers to preserve the value and quality of their cashew through proper
drying. Hence, after harvest, cashew nuts must be dried properly to a moisture level of
10% and then packed in jute bags and stored appropriately. Another hindrance to be
taken serious is diseases and pests control, because diseases and pests significantly lower
production and harvest. Government could solve this problem by enhancing the works of
disease and pest control officers in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture. From the findings
by NCAN, fire outbreaks which in some cases are deliberate actions of youth hunters
who are hunting rodents and bush meat, destroys sizeable amount of cashew crops
annually. This is common in the Guinea Savannah ecological zones, where cashew
production takes place. Bush burnings occur especially during the dry season, and it
coincides with cashew harvesting season. This can be tackled by getting farmers to create
fire breaks within their cashew farms. Also, farmers can be encouraged to take up cashew
crop insurance for their farms. On high cost of cashew processing, Government can give
investment incentive to cashew processors to lower the cost of processing and thus make
the kernels more competitive globally. Beyond outlining the problems and challenges,
NCAN through its networking, seminars, capacity building and other sensitization
activities combined with its collaboration with government and development agencies is
trying to confront these issues. Most importantly, NCAN as voice and stakeholders’
10

11. forum is articulating these realities and forwarding same to government for its attention
and action.
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