Nigeria’s cashew export hits $400m

…stakeholders seek stronger export data framework, target $1bn earnings

Stakeholders in Nigeria’s cashew industry have called for stronger export data and tracking systems to unlock the sector’s full economic potential, as the country earns about $400 million annually from cashew exports.

The call was made at the 4th National Cashew Day organised by the National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN), where industry players reviewed performance and strategies ahead of the new trading season.

Speaking at the event, the National President of NCAN, Dr Ojo Joseph Ajanaku, said Nigeria has the natural endowments to reclaim its position as a leading global cashew producer, but is being held back by weak production and export data.

“Nigeria has the land, the weather and the population advantage to be number one in the world again. What we are doing now is to energise stakeholders to push production capacity higher and grow the industry”, Ajanaku said.

Ajanaku said Nigeria’s cashew industry has recorded remarkable growth over the years, expanding from negligible export volumes in the early 2000s to nearly 600,000 metric tonnes of cashew exported annually.

However, he noted that official export earnings do not fully reflect the sector’s true performance, as some exporters bypass formal documentation and fail to repatriate export proceeds.

“The $400 million you are seeing is what came back to Nigeria. We would have earned more if we had the right structure to track what is produced and what leaves the country,” he said.

To address this gap, Ajanaku disclosed that the current administration is introducing an income farmers’ mapper, designed to map cashew farms nationwide, track production volumes and monitor export flows. 

He said the initiative would support the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS) with accurate, verifiable data.

Beyond data challenges, NCAN raised concerns about Nigeria’s low level of cashew processing, warning that limited value addition is costing the economy billions of dollars in potential revenue and jobs.

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Ajanaku urged the Federal Government to complement Special Agro-Processing Zones (SAPZs) with special agro-processing loans at single-digit interest rates to enable local processors compete globally.

“We have intervention funds from the Central Bank, NEXIM, Bank of Industry, Bank of Agriculture and others. With loans below 10 per cent, processors can compete and add value locally,” he said, noting Nigeria’s logistical advantage in supplying markets in Europe and the United States faster than Asian competitors.

Also speaking, President of the Federation of Agricultural Commodity Associations of Nigeria (FACAN), Sheriff Balogun, said the conference would help align stakeholders across the value chain and set the tone for a stronger 2026/2027 trading season.

Balogun said official data from the NBS shows Nigeria’s non-oil exports rose from about $5 billion to $6.1 billion, with cashew contributing over $400 million from more than 300,000 tonnes exported.

“That is huge for one commodity. With proper planning, we can push cashew export earnings to $1 billion in the coming years”, he said. 

He added that Nigeria currently processes only 20–30 per cent of its cashew output locally, stressing that deeper value addition could multiply earnings by more than five times while creating significant employment.

Stakeholders agreed that improving export data integrity, expanding processing capacity and ensuring affordable financing are critical to transforming cashew into a billion-dollar agribusiness.

“With coordination across farmers, processors, marketers and exporters, the entire value chain stands to benefit,” Balogun said, expressing optimism that the new trading season would deliver better outcomes for producers and consumers alike.