Mozambique: Best cashew harvest in 30 years

National production of cashew nuts has exceeded official projections and reached 137,400 tons, the best harvest figures in 30 years. The director of the National Cashew Institute (INCAJU), Ilídio Afonso Bande, quoted in Diário de Moçambique, said the increase surprised the authorities, who were expecting only around 120,000 tons.

With northern provinces in the vanguard, cashew crops in 2016, for example, were not more than 104,000 tons, but equal distribution of rainfall had contributed to the increase in harvest levels in Mozambique this year.

Rainfall occurred at a favourable time for the crop, which moved forward to flowering without interruptions. Efforts to boost production based on biotype varieties were also crucial to the success of the harvest, Ilídio Afonso said.

Institutional performance as seen in technical assistance to producers and control over the movement of cashew nuts have also helped boost production figures in recent years.

The northern province of Nampula is described as having enormous agricultural potential, and played a significant part, contributing 44 percent to overall production, followed by neighbouring Cabo Delgado with 15 percent and Zambezia with 12 percent.

Even regions of Zambezia like Mopeia, which traditionally have hardly any significant crops, this year achieved excellent results.

Encouraged with the new price

With prices at 60 meticals per kilogram, cultivation is extremely dynamic, with 1.4 million Mozambican families expected to be involved in production, according to the INCAJU director, who believes that the majority of producers are enthusiastic about the reaction of the consumer market.

The cashew price regularly reaches as high as 105 meticals per kilogram in November every year, but in 2016 overall averaged only 30 meticais a kilogram. Cashew nuts are regaining a larger share of the economy as a result of export demand led by Asia (for raw nuts), Europe and America.

Source: Diário de Moçambique / AIM