Cashew Production in Western Province

Описание: Cashew: A tropical evergreen tree that produces the cashew seed and the cashew apple accessory fruit.

Roasted cashew nut retails for over $36,700 per metric ton, making the price of cashew today three times higher than that of copper – Zambia’s major export.

Over 6 million cashew trees are planted in Western Province thanks to the Cashew Infrastructure development project, the CIDP, financed by the African Development Bank and the Government of the Republic of Zambia.

With proper care, cashew is easy to grow and has high economic benefits, with yields ranging from 2 kilograms to 50 kilograms per tree per year.

Western Province has suitable climatic conditions for growing Cashew. However, special care has to be taken as most of the western province has extreme sandy conditions.

CIDP is Government’s effort to revive the cashew industry in the western province.

Most of the land in the Western Province is customary and is held in trust by The Litunga.

It is important for farmers, especially women and youths, to have access to land for the project to succeed. Subsequently, about 60,000 hectares have been reserved for cashew farming.

To satisfy the growing demand for cashew seedlings, CIDP has adopted the concept of community nurseries operated by the members of the community themselves.

Knowledge transfer is key for the overall success and sustainability of the CIDP.

With more than 60,000 metric tons of cashew with a retail value of over $2.2 billion, Export Trading Group, ETG, has adopted a market linkage model to facilitate trade relations between farmers and buyers.