The Challenge:
By 2025, the global cashew kernel market is projected to reach almost $7 billion. West Africa is a leading producer of raw cashews and yet 90 percent of these raw nuts are sent outside Africa for processing. Cashew farmers and exporters only get a fraction of the final retail price which means West African economies miss out on the rapidly growing global cashew market.
Our Solution & Impact:
Virginia-based Red River Foods, a leading global supplier of plant-based food, saw the opportunity early on and decided to partner with the USAID West Africa Trade and Investment Hub to bolster support for production and processing of cashews in West Africa. With a $3 million co-investment from the Trade Hub, Red River Foods will expand and establish exports of cashews sourced from 10,950 farmers, processors, and suppliers working in Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, and Benin. Through this investment producers and processors will earn a steady higher income. This co-investment will create nearly $32 million in exports and at least 482 jobs.
Red River Foods will also build a cashew processing facility in Côte d’Ivoire to train local workers. Farmers’ cashews will be processed at that facility before getting shipped to Red River Foods’ value-addition facility in the United States. This facility will not only help increase West Africa’s cashew processing capability but also boost technical knowledge and processing infrastructure.