1. History of cashew in Côte d'Ivoire and world market
History in Ivory Coast
Cashew cultivation started in Côte d'Ivoire as early as 1960 in order to combat soil erosion and desertification in the north of the country. Since 1990, under the impetus of Indian buyers, cashew nuts appeared to producers as an alternative to cotton cultivation. Nowadays, the main production areas are the North and the Center of the country.
Côte d'Ivoire is currently the world's leading producer of Raw Cashew Nuts (RCN) with a production of 968 676 tons in 2021, of which less than 15% is processed locally (almonds). The main processors are international groups, including OLAM and, to a lesser extent, the Aga Khan Group (IPS). There is therefore a great unmet need for local processing. The RCN produced is mainly bought by Vietnamese and Indian companies, which capture the important added value linked to the first processing into almonds.
Global market
The major importers of cashew nuts in the global market, which are the United States and the European Union during the period 2015-2019, represented together 61% in volume and 64% in value of global imports. They mainly import high quality whole cashew almonds. The United States ended 2020 with sustained growth in cashew imports, reaching 8%, which should remain positive in 2022, despite the pandemic. While, the European almond market experienced an exceptional 17% growth in demand over the same period.
The African Cashew Alliance (ACA) expects the positive momentum in cashew almond demand recorded since 2011.
According to the Conseil Coton Anacarde, the overall turnover of the sector (raw and processed products) in Côte d'Ivoire increased from 88.9 billion FCFA in 2008 to 591.3 billion FCFA in 2018.
In Côte d'Ivoire, companies processing RCN into almonds can achieve an average net operating margin of between 14% and 17%.
2. Regulations and government measures
In 2013, the Ivorian government created the regulatory, monitoring and development body for the cotton and cashew sectors, the Conseil Coton l'Anacarde (CCA), in order to boost these two sectors.
The main support structures for the cashew sector are: the Interprofessional Fund for Research and Agronomic Council (FIRCA), the National Agency for Rural Development Support (ANADER), the National Agronomic Research Centre (CNRA), NGOs (ComCashew, GIZ/PROFIAB...).
The effective implementation of the various sectoral policies related to the cashew sector, characterized in particular by the increase in cultivated areas, and coupled with a favorable international environment, have contributed to the good performance observed.
The Ivorian authorities indicate that they consider this sector as a priority and aim to achieve a level of processing of 50% of the RCN production into almonds by 2025. They are supported by Technical and Financial Partners, such as the World Bank, which approved in 2018 a loan of 200 million dollars, intended for the promotion of the cashew sector in Côte d'Ivoire. This funding should help increase productivity and quality of production and promote the development of the cashew processing sector.
3. SWOT analysis
4. Recommendations
The cashew sector is booming in Côte d'Ivoire, however it is still very weakly industrialized, which presents a great opportunity. It benefits from a strong commitment of the State for its development as illustrated by the various initiatives taken. It should be noted that this speculation constitutes the 3rd source of agricultural income of Ivorian exports, and that Côte d'Ivoire is: first world producer of cashew nuts, first cashew nut processor in Africa and third in the world. In addition, the profitability ratios recorded at the level of certain processors are relatively high. However, there are challenges, particularly with regard to the availability of quality labor, the supply of processing units, and access to local financing.
From the above, investment in this specific sector, in the current context, seems to us judicious.
Our scores are the result of an aggregate of micro and macroeconomic criteria related to the market and business climate.