Nigeria's cashew farmers are fighting a policy they say would punish the very people who sustain the crop. The National Cashew Association of Nigeria has rejected proposed plans to ban the export of raw cashew nuts, warning that the move would hurt smallholders and destabilise the sector, according to MSME Africa. The association's president, Dr Joseph Ojo Ajanaku, made the case at a stakeholders' meeting in Abuja, according to Arise News.
Jobs Lost Against Jobs Gained
The core of the argument is arithmetic. The cashew value chain currently supports more than five million Nigerians, while local processing could generate only about 35,000 jobs even if all domestically produced cashew were processed at home, according to THISDAY. Ajanaku argued that farmers should not be made to subsidise processing through restricted exports, and warned that a ban would depress farmgate prices and squeeze incomes for growers who mostly cultivate less than one hectare, according to Vanguard.
A Declining Position
Nigeria was once the world's leading cashew producer with output of about 700,000 metric tonnes, but production has since fallen to between 350,000 and 400,000 metric tonnes, even as Côte d'Ivoire expanded beyond one million tonnes, according to THISDAY. Farmers face steep costs, with transport alone eating up to 40 per cent of earnings and loan interest running as high as 25 to 35 per cent, according to Blueprint. The association also cautioned that an export ban would sit awkwardly with Nigeria's obligations under the African Continental Free Trade Area, could encourage smuggling and might weaken investor confidence, according to Tribune Online.
What Farmers Want Instead
Rather than restrictions, the growers want the government to fix what actually holds processing back. The association pointed to high energy costs, weak storage and limited access to affordable credit as the real barriers, and proposed special agro-processing loans at single-digit interest rates of about three to five per cent, according to Tribune Online and Vanguard. Cashew remains a valuable earner, with the global market projected to grow toward $10.57 billion in 2026, according to figures cited by the African Cashew Alliance.
The dispute is really about who bears the cost of building an industry. FoodPrices Nigeria tracks verified retail prices across Lagos markets and follows the export-policy debates that shape rural incomes and the wider food economy.
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