Ivory Coast produced a record 1million tonnes of cashew last year and now aims to triple that

Top cashew producer Ivory Coast is to open three new processing plants with the aim of tripling its output of shelled nuts by next year, its Cotton-Cashew Council said Tuesday.

The African country last year produced a record one million tonnes of nuts, up from 850 000 tonnes in 2019, but just 10 percent have so far been processed domestically.

Ivory Coast aims to process more of its own crop for sale in the huge American market.

Until now, most of the nuts have been shelled abroad then shipped to the US at an exorbitant cost.

“The agribusiness sites of Brobo, Yamoussouko and Bondoukou aim to process 300,000 tonnes annually from 2022,”said Karim Berthe, the director of processing at the Cotton-Cashew Council.

“These new facilities should boost the domestic processing rate from 10 to 30-40 percent.”

Cashew kernels are used in cooking and cosmetics, while resin from the shells has various industrial uses, including as a fluid for aircraft braking systems —  earning the nut its nickname of “grey gold”.

The cashew apple is also used to produce wine, liqueur, syrup, jam and juice.

Ivory Coast, which counts some 250,000 cashew nut producers organised into around 20 cooperatives, ultimately hopes to shell half its cashew nuts by 2025.

The Ivorian government and the World Bank in 2018 inked a deal to set up four processing sites at a total cost of US$200 million.

Until now the country’s raw nuts have been shipped to India, Vietnam and Brazil to be processed.

Key consumers include India, the United States, the European Union, China, the United Arab Emirates and Australia. — AFP