WorldStage— The National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN) has set a target of increasing the country’s annual raw cashew nut production from 300,000 tonnes to one million tonnes within the next decade.
The association announced the target on Tuesday in Abuja during the inauguration of its national and state executives.
NCAN National President, Ademola Adesokan, said the plan was a practical roadmap that would rely on effective implementation at the state level.
He said the initiative would deepen industrialisation, boost non-oil exports, attract investment and create thousands of jobs across Nigeria’s cashew-producing states.
According to him, while policies are formulated at the federal level, production, aggregation, storage and quality assurance are driven by farming communities.
“We have set ambitious targets of growing national production from about 300,000 tonnes to one million tonnes within the next decade, with 50 per cent processed locally,” he said.
Adesokan said state executives would drive quality control, strengthen aggregation systems and improve traceability across the value chain.
He added that stronger grassroots coordination would boost confidence among processors and exporters, making Nigerian cashew more competitive in international markets.
The Director of Industrial Development, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr Olumuyiwa Jayi-Ade, reaffirmed the ministry’s commitment to the industry.
Represented by Mr Popoola Abimbola, an Assistant Director, Jayi-Ade said the inauguration marked a key step towards implementing the recently validated Nigeria Cashew Roadmap.
He commended NCAN for its contributions to developing the roadmap, saying they had strengthened the framework for a sustainable and globally competitive cashew industry.
According to him, the ministry, alongside the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, NCAN and development partners, will immediately develop implementation strategies and institutional frameworks for the roadmap.
He said the plan included establishing the Nigerian Cashew Project Office to coordinate reforms, stakeholder collaboration, monitoring and implementation across the value chain.
Jayi-Ade reaffirmed the ministry’s commitment to expanding domestic processing, promoting value addition, attracting investment, creating jobs, increasing farmers’ incomes and positioning Nigeria as a leading exporter of processed cashew products.
Also, the Director of Commodities and Export Department in the ministry, Mr Obasi Edozie, said the establishment of state chapters marked a major institutional milestone that would strengthen coordination and governance across the industry.
He said cashew remained one of Nigeria’s strategic non-oil export commodities with strong potential to earn foreign exchange, drive rural development, stimulate industrial growth and create employment.
Edozie reaffirmed the ministry’s commitment to policies that would improve productivity, strengthen quality standards, expand processing capacity and enhance the global competitiveness of Nigerian cashew products.
He urged stakeholders to remain united in promoting traceability, attracting investment and accelerating local processing to enable Nigeria capture greater value from the expanding cashew industry.
