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Nigeria could generate up to $10 billion annually from the cashew industry if the right investment framework, supportive policies and value-addition strategies are put in place, the National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN) has said.
Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja ahead of the forthcoming Nigeria Cashew Day, the national president of NCAN, Dr Ojo Joseph Ajanaku, said the country possesses the land, manpower and market advantage to become a global leader in cashew production and processing, but continues to underperform due to weak policies, poor data, and limited local processing capacity.
According to Ajanaku, the Nigeria Cashew Day initiative, which began in 2023 in Benin, was created to bring together key stakeholders across the value chain, including producers, processors, marketers and service providers, to draw attention to the sector’s vast but underutilised potential.
The conference, which rotated to Enugu in 2024 and Lagos in 2025, will hold in Abuja in 2026, deliberately positioning the event at the nation’s seat of power to engage directly with the executive arm of government.
“Our aim is to have a national cashew policy that is owned by Nigerians, not one imposed by external interests. We want a policy that protects the industry, promotes organic cashew, and allows us to fully own what we produce,” Ajanaku said.
He noted that Nigeria has about 92 million hectares of land, with more than 34 million hectares of arable land currently lying fallow, a stark contrast to Côte d’Ivoire, which has roughly 32 million hectares but outperforms Nigeria in both cocoa and cashew production.
“With proper harnessing, the Nigerian cashew industry can create jobs for over 50 million Nigerians. There is nothing lacking we have the land, the population and the financial capacity to be the number one cashew producer in the world,” he said.
Ajanaku stressed that beyond production, Nigeria must also position itself as a major processing hub, warning that continued export of raw cashew nuts deprives the economy of significant revenue, jobs and foreign exchange.
The NCAN president lamented that many leading cashew-producing states lack processing facilities, citing Kogi State as a prime example.
“Kogi is one of the leading cashew-producing states in Nigeria, yet it has no single cashew factory. If factories are located in producing areas, our children will be employed, and rural economies will grow,” he said.
He called on state governments to create incentives that attract investors to set up processing plants locally, while encouraging indigenous entrepreneurs to invest in their home states.
Ajanaku also raised concerns about the absence of reliable production statistics, noting that Nigeria currently relies on export figures to estimate output.
“We don’t have the correct statistical structure to determine how much cashew we produce. Worse still, a large volume of cashew leaves the country without records, as exporters bypass official procedures to avoid repatriating proceeds,” he said.
According to NCAN, officially recorded exports from the last season stood at over 400,000 metric tonnes, valued at about $700 million, but the actual figure is believed to be much higher.
He said Nigeria has the capacity to scale production to over 2 million metric tonnes annually within five years, and potentially more than 4 million tonnes in the long term.
“At a conservative price of $1,500 per tonne, producing 2 million tonnes would generate $3 billion, excluding by-products,” Ajanaku explained.
He highlighted the vast opportunities in cashew by-products, including Cashew Nut Shell Liquid (CNSL) and residue cake, which is often discarded in Nigeria but sells for about 95 cents per kilogram internationally.
“If we process what we produce locally and fully exploit the value chain, Nigeria can earn a minimum of $10 billion annually from the cashew industry,” he said.
Ajanaku concluded that the upcoming Nigeria Cashew Day would serve as a platform to signal to the global investment community that Nigeria is open for business and ready to take a leading position in the global cashew market, provided the right policy decisions are made now.
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