Guinea-Bissau saw its best cashew marketing drive in the last five years in 2024, with the average price paid to producers nearly double the minimum fixed rate, reports the Portuguese news agency Lusa.
Although production fell short of the expected 200,000 tons, the 2024 push proved more profitable for producers and for the state, Director-General of Commerce Lassana Faty said.
The minimum price paid to producers was set at 300 CFA francs (US$0.48) per kilogram of cashew nuts, but according to data shared with Lusa, the average price reached 570 CFA francs (US$0.90), an increase of 87.5 percent over the minimum.
The 2024 marketing drive, beginning 15 March 2024 and ending 5 February 2025, saw the involvement of 49 companies and more than 1,700 intermediaries, who buy directly from producers. The state also saw a boost in revenues through an increase in export contracts, as nearly 92 percent of the 178,000 tons harvested in the campaign were exported to countries across Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
Speaking at the closing ceremony for the sales push, Prime Minister Rui Duarte Barros emphasised the importance of cashews to the country. “Cashew nuts are not just an agricultural product; they are a source of livelihood for thousands of families and the backbone of Guinea-Bissau’s economy,” he said.
[See more: Chinese mission in Guinea-Bissau improves rice production]
Commerce Minister Orlando Mendes Vegas echoed the sentiment, saying that cashew nuts are “the most important economic activity in the country, being a strategic product for the national economy and representing 90 percent of all exports.”
Financial support proved the biggest challenge in the 2024 campaign, according to Saliu Bá, the interim secretary-general of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Agriculture and Services (CCIAS).
The national banking sector limited its financing of cashew businesses, citing “difficulty in obtaining guarantees, the sluggishness of the justice system in resolving disputes and the volatility of prices set by the government,” Bá explained.
Another long-term challenge facing the sector is the need for local value addition. Making cashew-derived products like syrups, wines and cheeses would bring in more money than exporting raw cashews. Such diversification would also help reduce economic vulnerability and ensure more sustainable growth.
