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Commodities > Fruits, Nuts and Oils Cashews [ Background Information ] [ News ] [ Related Links ] Cashew Report - Guinea Bissau Guinea Bissau’s Government has predicted a record harvest of 60,000 tonnes of cashew nuts, worth around US$52 million, for export during 1999. News reports in the country say that the record crop is vital to help ensure the re-launching the country's economy. Guinea Bissau is the world's sixth largest cashew exporter. Its previous export record was 45,000 tonnes in 1997. Without a concerted effort to rehabilitate Bissau’s refugees quickly, there may be a shortage of workers to help harvest the crop. Agriculture, principally products from rural farmers, drives the economy; and cashews (known as "Guinea-Bissau's petroleum"), furnish its major fuel. Cashews are the country's second largest crop and its most important export product. Most (90%) of the cashews exported are grown and collected by some 37,000 small, rural farmers and their families rather than large "commercial" growers, who account for less than 10% of total production. Until 1995, cashews were exported raw and processed in India, cutting out the value added by local processing. However, under the auspices of USAID's Trade and Investment Promotion Support (TIPS) project, cashew processing has become a small but growing industry. Local processing -- roasting, drying, shelling, and packaging cashews for export -- can quadruple producer's earnings. General Facts About Cashews The cashew, (Anacardium occidentale), is a member of
the Anacardiceae family. It is indigenous to South America and was
introduced as a soil binding tree to the west coast of India by Portuguese
traders in the 16th century. The Portuguese and Spanish spread the
cashew throughout the tropics from South America and India, but it
did not become important in international trade until the early 1920’s. The
cashew, is a multipurpose tree well suited to poor sandy soils and
thriving in soils unfit for other crops. Because the tree provides
a range of products and can be planted in degraded areas, it is a
good candidate for rehabilitating areas degraded by poorly managed
pastures
or slash-and-burn farming in which fallow periods have become too
short. The cashew produces both male and bisexual flowers with male flowers predominating the first month. Pollination is by insects. Flowering varies with climate, but usually lasts 3-4 months. The nut develops for 6-8 months after pollination, with the apple developing during the last two weeks. The nut and the apple drop together over a period of 6-8 weeks. The apples and nuts are collected from the ground 2-4 times over the 6-8 weeks if the weather is dry. Rain during nut fall presents problems with decay of the apples and germination of the nuts. The tree will floral within 2-3 years and is at its best in 7 years. Cashew production to get boost - February
2004 Mr John Wunu, Senior Manager, Exports, of the Ghana National Procurement Agency (GNPA) Limited, a cashew exporting company, announced this at a meeting of Gomoa Lome Cashew Growers Cooperative Society at Gomoa Lome in the Gomoa district. He said a Cashew Development Project had been set up to assist farmers and that Agriculture Extension Agents to be known as Commodity Officers and Agricultural Development Bank Credit officers would be attached to each group of farmers to offer technical and financial assistance to them. Mr Wunu advised farmers who had decided to destroy their cashew farms
for the lack of market for the produce to rescind their decision. He
announced that the GNPA was negotiating with a foreign company to establish
cashew-processing factory in the country. Cashews
in Guinea-Bissau |
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