Nigeria’s cashew output seen rising by 20percent despite mild harmattan season

Nigeria’s 2020-21 cashew output is seen to increase by 20percent despite the current mild harmattan season and the prolonged short dry spell last-year, as farmers commence harvest of the crop soon.

Farmers link the increase in production to good fruiting of cashew trees observed across major producing states in the country and harvesting of new plantations.

“With what we have seen across key producing states, our 2020-21 cashew output will increase by 20percent,” said Ojo Ajanaku, national president, National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN).

“Our only worry now is that there is little or no harmattan in key producing states and this might affect the quality of the crop. If we do not have harmattan our cashew might go bad quickly because of the acidic nature of the crop,” he said.

He noted that harmattan helps in reducing the level of heat during the storage of the crop.

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Last year, Nigeria’s cashew industry suffered a major setback as the COVID-19 pandemic hurt export and caused a 57percent drop in price. Nigeria’s cashew association put the loss of the industry during the period at N30.4 billion.

“We experienced a huge loss last year owing to the pandemic. We were losing N200,000 on every ton of cashew that was sold,” Ajanaku said.

About 95 percent of the total output for 2020 was exported according to the national president of the cashew association. This means that N3.4billion (which is a 95percent of 160,000MT – total production per annum multiply by N200,000 lost per ton) was lost by farmers.

Nigeria is rated as the fourth-largest producer of cashew nuts in Africa and sixth in the world, with a 160,000 metric per annum, according to data from the country’s Agricultural Ministry.

Cashew in Africa’s most populous country is usually harvested between February-June, though farmers stock the crop and export it all year round.

“We are getting good signals from major growing regions. So, we believe our output will be good,” said Tola Faseru, president, African Cashew Alliance.

“The weather did not affect our output and a lot of plantations that were planted a few years ago will start fruiting and this will increase our production this year,” he said.

He urged the government to address the congestion at the country’s port terminal over the new clearing policy introduced by the Central Bank so that exporters can have a smooth sail in exporting cashew next month.

Cashew has become a top-notch cash crop in Nigeria and it is one of the focused commodities by the Buhari led government to revamp the Nigerian economy.

It can be eaten and also serves as industrial raw materials in firms producing chemicals, paints, varnishes, insecticides and fungicides, electrical conductress, and several types of oil and also for the food and beverage industry.

According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, Africa’s biggest economy earned N40billion from cashew nuts export in the first 9months of 2020.

The bulk of Nigeria’s cashew nuts and kernels are exported to Asia, Europe, and the United States.

Cashew crop can be grown in the entire South-West, South-South, and South-East region, with Enugu, Oyo, Anambra, Osun, and Kogi having the largest production areas.

“We have even started harvesting of our cashew and drying for the season next month,” said Debo Thomas from his cashew farm in Ogbomosho – Oyo state.

“The trees are doing very well and we are hopeful that prices will be better this year than last year,” he added.