• Plan to plant 7,000 ha and rehabilitate 60,000 ha of cashew by 2026

• Backed by $150M from World Bank; talks underway for $159M more

• Local processing prioritized following April 2024 export ban

Benin is stepping up efforts to boost its cashew industry. The government has announced plans to develop 7,000 hectares of new cashew plantations and rehabilitate 60,000 hectares of old orchards by 2026. The announcement was made on May 15 during the launch of the 2025 national cashew planting campaign in Savalou.

This initiative is part of the Agricultural Value Chain Competitiveness and Export Diversification Project (PACOFIDE). The program already secured $150 million in funding from the World Bank in June 2024. According to Agriculture Minister Gaston Dossouhoui, an additional $159 million is currently being negotiated to support the project’s expansion.

Through this effort, the government aims to strengthen domestic production by combining land expansion with improved productivity. By introducing better farming practices, the goal is to raise yields from around 450 kilograms per hectare to 800 kilograms per hectare by 2026. This target was shared by Dr. Samuel Akpovi, an agricultural productivity expert working with PACOFIDE.

Although these new plantations will take time to produce results, they are expected to support the cashew sector’s strong growth in the coming years. According to figures from the Directorate of Agricultural Statistics, Benin’s cashew nut production has grown by an average of 9.87% annually over the past five years, rising from 137,926 tons in 2020 to 201,000 tons in 2024. Government forecasts point to a harvest of 225,000 tons in 2025.

This growth is especially important now that Benin is focusing on local processing to add more value to its crops. Since April 2024, the government has banned the export of raw cashew nuts to ensure domestic factories have priority access to the harvest.

This shift in policy is pushing companies to invest in expanding their processing capacity. One example is Bénin Cashew SA, which secured a loan of CFA10 billion (around $17.3 million) from the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development in April. The funds will help finance the construction of five new raw cashew processing plants and a cashew balm production unit in the Glo-Djigbé Industrial Zone (GDIZ).