A lot of Nigerians are making money by providing supportive services to exporters in Nigeria; this special resource package is for cashew exportation.
Cashew is regarded as one of the nation’s economic trees that have the potential to create enormous wealth for farmers, and generate foreign exchange to government.
Driven by the rise in demand from China, India and other fast-growing economies, the global cashew boom has generated profits at most trading houses. Together, some cashew exporters are worth millions of dollars in annual revenue.
For instance, a recent data from the National Cashew Association of Nigeria showed that Nigeria exported a total of 160,000 metric tonnes of raw cashew valued at $300 million in two years. This figure was far behind what farmers and exporters could have earned assuming there are processing factories to process cashew nuts for export.
Cashew nuts are dried in the sun for two reasons, to reduce the moisture content of the nut, to mature the seed in the infrared and ultra violet rays of the sun
Chief Executive, Centre for Trade and Export Development, Mr. Titi Olukayode, said his company was ready to train more Nigerians get involved in cashew export. According to him, the company holds training sessions to expose would-be exporters to international buyers.
He explained that cashew grows very well in virtually all agro-ecological zones including the semi-arid areas but with high concentration in the middle belt areas in smallholder farms and plantations and provide livelihood for over 300,000 families and has created 600,000 jobs in the country. Cashew production comes from over 28 states, including Enugu, Kogi, Kwara, Edo, Ondo, Benue and Cross River, among others.
The stakeholders hinted that over 30 per cent of cashew nuts produced in Nigeria annually are smuggled across the border as a result of price discrepancy in cashew moved into the global market by other countries like Benin Republic, as the crop fetches a premium in the international
market.
Making money through processing and exporting cashew nuts
Nigeria is one of the top ten producers of cashew in the world. Cashew is a smallholder crop and supplements the incomes of many thousands of farmers.
There are three main cashew products traded in the International market; raw nuts, cashew kernels and cashew nut shell liquid. A fourth product, the cashew apple, is generally processed and consumed locally. Market openings exist for cashew kernels in the world market, especially for low cost suppliers.
Nigerians, with low labor cost and producer of raw cashew nuts, should cash in on these opportunities. By far, the U.S is the largest buyer of cashew kernels followed by the Netherlands.
Cashew nuts are dried in the sun for two reasons, to reduce the moisture content of the nut, to mature the seed in the infrared and ultra violet rays of the sun.
Going into cashew business, is not an easy task for a new beginner because of lot of things .The major consideration is the amount of capital one is willing to invest. If there is enough capital, one can export himself. It is also good for one to buy and supply export companies in Lagos and major shipping towns.
Export market:
The major buyers of cashew nut from Nigeria are mainly India and Singapore. Smaller percentage goes to
Europe.
