The Cashew Conundrum — Mighty Earth

A quick introduction

Over the last 40 years, growing global demand has spurred the rapid expansion of cashew cultivation. Cashews are a versatile nut used in various ways and offer health benefits. However, their environmental and social impact, especially in Côte d’Ivoire, the top producer of raw cashew nuts, remains largely unknown.

Mighty Earth highlights the challenges in Côte d’Ivoire's cashew industry and provides recommendations for creating a sustainable future for cashew.

Clearing

Native trees and bushes are cleared to make space for cashew trees.

Planting

Cashew trees are planted and maintained by farmers. Agrochemicals are often used to boost growth and kill crop diseases.

Harvesting

Once ripe, cashew apples are collected by farmers and the raw cashew nut is removed from the fruit.

Local co-operatives

buy raw cashew nuts from farmers where they are air dried for three to four days, sorted for size and quality, then stored in warehouses.

Multinational Companies

buy raw cashew nuts in bulk to be processed.

Domestic Processing

21.5% of Ivorian cashews are processed locally. Raw cashew nuts are roasted, then manually or mechanically de-shelled, before being sorted and packaged.

International Processing

78.5% of Côte d'Ivoire's cashews are processed abroad, mostly in Vietnam and India before being re-exported to consuming countries.

International Shipping

Processed cashew nuts are transported to consuming countries. The US and Europe account for ~2/3 of the global consumer market.

Packaging units

Cashews are re-packaged and branded by retailers, to be sold domestically or re-exported for international retail.

Retailers

Ivorian cashews make their way onto supermarket shelves across the world, including:

WHAT ARE THE ISSUES?

Cashew farming has spread rapidly across the northern dry forests of Côte d’Ivoire. Cashew farms now occupy 1.6 million hectares of land - nearly equivalent to the size of Hawaii. In some cashew growing areas, up to 25% of native dry forest has disappeared in less than four years.

The dry forests of northern Côte d’Ivoire make up a unique ecosystem. But cashew trees have replaced native vegetation across the region, threatening wildlife habitats and protected areas. The Comoé National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site home to the critically endangered Western Chimpanzee, is now virtually encircled by cashew plantations.

Cashew farmers use pesticides to control crop diseases and pest outbreaks, but these chemicals seep into soils and groundwater, polluting native ecosystems and harming wildlife. Recent farmer training schemes have met with some success in reducing the use of agrichemicals, but the overuse of pesticides has resulted in lasting harm to the environment.

While initially boosting economic growth in historically poorer parts of the country, the recent explosion of cashew farming has generated an oversupply of the crop, creating a glut and depressing cashew sales. The result has been a “boom to bust” scenario, with dire consequences for individual households and rural businesses.

Thousands of farmers in northern Côte d’Ivoire have shifted away from growing traditional food crops to producing cashew as a commercial crop. While this has boosted rural incomes across the region, it has left household diets at the mercy of the market. When cashew prices collapse, as in early 2023, families can’t afford to buy staple foods, leaving them vulnerable to hunger.

When raw cashew nuts are roasted, they release a caustic oil. Workers manually de-shelling cashew nuts are exposed to this hazardous substance, which can cause painful burns and injuries to peoples’ nails, hands and forearms. This work is mainly done by women, often without access to protective equipment, who endure these injuries to earn an income.

DID YOU KNOW?