Ghana Agribusiness Playbook
Cashew hero photo
Crops · Commodity No. 05

Cashew

Anacardium occidentale

A rising export earner, with nuts still shipped raw for processing.

Is this a business for you?

The brief

The opportunity, what it takes to start, and the market signal, in plain terms.

The opportunity

Ghana's cashew crop is booming but leaves most of its value abroad, shipped raw to Vietnam and India. In-country kernel processing and cashew-apple use, paired with outgrower schemes and certification, is where the premium sits.

What it takes
GHS 0

A realistic starting point. First revenue in about 3 to 4 months (processing).

Market signal
Fast-growing export earner

The disease, price and biosecurity risks are covered in full inside the playbook.

Cashew at a glance

The numbers

The numbers a student, entrepreneur or investor should carry into the pillars, each unpacked with its source inside. Figures current to mid-2026.

~0 t
Raw nuts produced in 2025, after a 30% fall in 2024
TCDA, 2026
~0 ha
Under cashew, farmed by about 200,000 farmers
CICC; TCDA, 2023
US$0.0m
Exports in 2025, the largest agricultural non-traditional earner
GEPA, 2026
~0%
Of nuts exported raw and unshelled, mainly to Asia
IMANI Africa; trade reporting, 2025-2026
0-10%
Of the crop processed at home
Wittern et al.; IMANI Africa, 2023-2025
0-5x
Kernels are worth this much more than raw nuts per kilo
Market prices, 2025-2026
0%
Farmer's share of retail on the kernel channel, vs 65% of raw FOB
World Bank, 2023
GH¢0/kg
Farm-gate floor price for 2025/26, down from GH¢15
TCDA, 2025
~0%
Of the ~65,000 t national processing capacity actually used
IMANI Africa, 2025
>0%
Of the cashew apple wasted; shell oil under-used
Wittern et al., 2023
+0%
More nuts with weaver-ant biological pest control
Anato et al., 2024
0-60%
Local-processing target behind the pledged raw-export ban
Government of Ghana, 2026
Cashew banner photo

Every stage is a business of its own. Find the one that is yours.

The biggest returns rarely sit in production. Read the playbook section by section to see where the real value is.

The playbook, section by section

8 sections

Six content pillars plus market intelligence and a strategic outlook. Open any section.

Take a playbook with you.

Downloads

Every entry ships as a full document, a cost model, an investor snapshot and a set of risk cards.

Full Playbook

All eight content pillars, data tables, diagrams and market summaries.

PDFDownload Cashew playbook

Cost & Returns Model

Per-unit cost breakdowns, yield benchmarks and margin calculations you can drop your own numbers into.

XLSXDownload Cashew cost model

Market Opportunity Snapshot

A market opportunity brief covering demand, pricing and entry points.

PDFDownload Cashew snapshot

Disease & Risk Cards

Quick-reference disease and risk profiles for the whole entry.

PDFDownload Cashew disease & risk cards
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