Nigeria's cashew exports hit N635bn

The federal government has said that the Nigerian cashew industry is experiencing a strong transformation driven by a rising consumer demand, generating over $446.92 million worth over N635 billion under the current exchange rate.

Speaking at the Nigeria Cashew Day Conference in Abuja, the managing director/chief executive officer of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Mrs Nonye Ayeni, said that in 2024, cashew nuts became 4th among 243 distinct products exported from Nigeria.

According to her, cashew export value increased from US$219.78 million in the first half of 2024 to US$398.135 million in the first half of 2025.

'In 2025, cashew nuts became Nigeria's number three leading export product, underscoring its critical role in the country's non-oil export landscape.

'From official sources of trade statistics, we have the volume of cashew exported in 2025 in the range of 384,814 metric tonnes, and the value for the year 2025 is a staggering $446,927,778.63. We have some of these programmes and initiatives that have actually been working along with the sector,' Mrs Ayeni said.

Nigeria remains one of the top producers of cashews in Africa. The country also ranks high in the global cashew industry. However, this sector has battled several challenges.

Speaking on behalf of the managing director of the Bank of Agriculture, Mrs Weyinmi Eribo, who heads partnerships at the bank, she said the bank was targeting the cultivation of one million hectares of economic tree crops, including cashew, intending to catalyse agricultural transformation, export diversification and climate resilience, adding that the cashew opportunity is clear - from raw nuts to global value chains.

'Cashew is more than a crop. It is a comprehensive value chain waiting to be fully activated. From the nuts to the kernel, from the cashew apple to juice and wine, from the shell to industrial resins, every component of the cashew tree holds economic value. Yet today, Nigeria exports over 90 per cent of our cashews in raw form, surrendering value addition, job creation and premium pricing to processors in Vietnam, India, and Brazil.

'This must change. Investment in domestic processing capacity is not optional; it is essential. We are, therefore, calling on investors, both domestic and international, to seize this moment, establish processing plants, build aggregation hubs, develop export logistics infrastructure, partner with our farmers through outdoor schemes,' she said.

Dr Dele Adiniyi, who has been working on cashew for more than 23 years in the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria, told the stakeholders that a lot of research had been done on cashew over the years.

'Today, we have nothing less than 15 products and by-products developed by the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria on cashew, which are waiting for entrepreneurs to take up and expand the production to increase the impact of cashew on the Nigerian economy,' he said.

Dr Ojo Joseph Ajanaku, the national president of the National Cashew Association of Nigeria, the umbrella body of the Nigeria cashew industry, a conglomerate of farmers, producers, processors, marketers and service providers, was working hard to address some of the challenges facing the industry.

'We want to grow the Nigeria cashew industry capacity in production so that we can go back to the number one position we used to be. We have the land, we have all it takes, we have the weather and everything to our advantage to be there as the number one cashew producer in the world. So, this forum today further energises that aspect that we will push to increase cashew production in the country.

He said one of the major challenges Nigeria has is that some foreigners in the country do away with our cashew without filling the Nigeria export precede form because they don't want to repatriate what they have exported out of the country.

Link:https://www.msn.com/en-xl/money/economy/nigeria-s-cashew-exports-hit-n63...