Maputo, Oct. 16, 2025 (Lusa) - The Mozambican Ministry of Agriculture says that the sharp increase in cashew production and marketing is having an impact on the quality of life in rural communities, but that it is necessary to monitor quality and follow the best examples.
In a note released on Thursday about the visit the previous day by the minister of Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries, Roberto Albino, to the Mozambique Almond Institute (IAM), it is stated that the cashew nut production and marketing plan showed "positive performance in the 2024-2025 harvest," with more than 195,000 tonnes, above the initial target of 160,000 tonnes.
"Thanks to good agricultural practices and the commitment of producers. This growth had a direct impact on communities, enabling many families to improve their living conditions, with access to housing, education and other goods and services that meet basic needs," it reads.
Despite the progress, the minister stressed that quantity must be accompanied by quality, pointing out as a priority the strengthening of the cashew nut value chain.
"The development project for this chain, presented during the meeting, has an implementation horizon between 2025 and 2035 and will be led by the IAM itself. The aim is to generate employment, increase competitiveness and promote the export of processed products," according to information from the Ministry of Agriculture.
According to the same source, the IAM was instructed "to study the good practices of leading countries in the production and marketing of cashew nuts, such as Côte d'Ivoire, and to adopt innovative strategies adapted to the national reality."
‘We have to do things differently with what we have — and do them well,’ appealed Roberto Albino, quoted in the note.
Mozambique decided this month to maintain the reference price for cashew nut producers at 45 meticais (€0.61) per kilo for this season, to ensure the sustainability of the sector, one of the country's main cash crops.
"We will maintain the reference price at 45 meticais. And we will monitor the evolution of market conditions. Nothing prevents this committee from meeting again to discuss setting another reference price in light of market variations," said Secretary of State for the Sea and Fisheries Momade Juízo on 10 October.
The minister was speaking in Maputo during the first session of the Almond Committee, which meets annually to set the reference price for purchasing cashew nuts from producers in each marketing year, in this case 2025/2026.
Cashew nut sales in Mozambique reached around 195,400 tonnes in the last 2024/2025 season, a historic milestone closer to the record set in the 1970s, when the country was one of the world's largest producers.
Cashew nut exports from Mozambique continue to grow, reaching US$38.7 million (€33 million) in the first quarter, leading foreign sales among the so-called "traditional products", according to data from the Bank of Mozambique.
According to information from the Ministry of Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries, cashew nut production in Mozambique reached more than 200,000 tonnes per year 50 years ago, during the colonial period, and until the mid-1970s, Mozambique was the world's second largest cashew producer (210,000 tonnes processed in 1973), behind only India, which bought most of that production at the time and still does today.
After Mozambique's independence on 25 June 1975, production fell to less than 10%, to around 15,000 to 20,000 tonnes per year, but it has been growing annually and in the last 2024/2025 season it stood out among the largest producers, remaining in seventh place.
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