• Tanzania's 2025/2026 cashew harvest could reach 700,000 tonnes.
• Forecast represents a 33% increase from 2024's record 528,000 tonnes.
• Only 2% of national cashew harvest is processed domestically.

Tanzania, East Africa's leading cashew producer and second on the continent after Ivory Coast, aims to strengthen its global market position. The upcoming 2025 campaign, launching by October, targets new production highs.

The African Cashew Alliance, in a September 2025 report citing industry projections, estimates Tanzania's 2025/2026 cashew nut harvest could reach 700,000 tonnes. This forecast, if realized, would mark a 33% increase from 2024's record 528,000 tonnes. Such a volume would boost Tanzania's competitiveness and enhance its contribution to the global market, where India, Cambodia, and Ivory Coast currently lead.

Production Volatility and Growth Factors

Tanzanian cashew production has shown significant fluctuations over the past decade. Output more than doubled from 155,244 tonnes in 2015 to 313,826 tonnes in 2017. It then declined 33% to 210,000 tonnes in 2022, before rebounding with two consecutive years of growth to reach 528,000 tonnes in 2024. Overall, production more than doubled over this period.

Several factors explain the recent surge. Authorities attribute the anticipated 2025 growth primarily to new plantations entering production. These were established under a cashew orchard expansion strategy initiated years prior.

In 2020, cashew plantations covered over 811,700 hectares, concentrated in Mtwara, Lindi, Ruvuma, Tanga, and Pwani regions. The Ministry of Agriculture has since announced expansion into 13 new regions, including Morogoro, Dodoma, Singida, and Tabora, as part of efforts to boost sectoral output.

Under this strategy, the government subsidizes the production and distribution of high-yield cashew seedlings. A 2023/2024 Ministry of Agriculture report revealed the distribution of nearly 240,000 subsidized cashew seedlings to farmers.

Efforts also extend to facilitating access to agricultural inputs. Cashew, along with other strategic cash crops, benefits from the government's fertilizer and pesticide subsidy program. This fertilizer subsidy program, for instance, increased input usage in the agricultural sector by 84% to 840,000 tonnes in 2023/2024, up from 457,855 tonnes in 2019/2020.

Furthermore, since the 2024/2025 campaign, Tanzanian cashew production has been sold through an auction system. This new mechanism secures better export prices and sustains farmer interest in the sector.

Processing Remains a Challenge

Despite improved production, Tanzania's cashew sector, like most African producing countries, faces low processing levels. Data compiled by the African Cashew Alliance indicates that in 2024, only three countries—Ivory Coast, Nigeria, and Benin—accounted for nearly 80% of installed processing capacity.

The ACA estimates Tanzania processed only 2% of its national cashew harvest this year, implying nearly 98% of production is exported as raw nuts.

In response, the government, in cooperation with Arise, began constructing an agro-industrial park in 2023. Located in Maranje, Mtwara region, this park will exclusively process cashews. The ambition is for the industrial park to host processing plants with a cumulative capacity of 600,000 tonnes. Until project completion, the sector will forgo a substantial portion of value added from the processing segment.

This article was initially published in French by Stéphanas Assocle

Adapted in English by Ange Jason Quenum