Wed, 05 Feb 2025

Ghana wants more for its cashews, but it's a tough nut to crack

The African nation exports its cashews in raw form, but processing them would be more lucrative.
The country's farmers earn approximately $50 for a large sack of 100kg of unshelled cashews, while roasters and retailers buy the nuts for $500 a tonne and sell them to customers for between $20,000 and $40,000 a tonne. Mildred Akotia, founder of Akwaaba Fine Foods, which processes just 25 tonnes a year, claims that high interest rates make it difficult to obtain credit from local banks. As a result, less than 20% of Ghana's cashews are processed locally, with the bulk being exported for processing in countries like India and Vietnam. A similar situation is observed with rice exports, where imported packaged rice is sold at low prices despite domestic production. The issue has led to proposals of increased tariffs on raw cashew exports and bans on direct farm sales to exporters. Economist Bright Simons argues that Ghanaian businesses need to focus on building a strong local market by promoting consumption and increasing scale. He suggests that the first priority should be improving access to international markets for processed Ghanaian cashews, rather than relying solely on government interventions.
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