By Business Insider Reporter
The cashew nut sector is undergoing a structural transformation, driven by ambitious production targets, deep reforms in marketing systems and a deliberate push to integrate youth and women into every stage of the value chain.
Speaking to Business Insider in Dar es Salaam, the Tanzania Cashewnut Board (CBT) Director General, Francis Alfred, outlined a long-term strategy anchored on three overarching goals: producing one million tonnes of raw cashew nuts by 2030, processing all cashews domestically by the same year and guaranteeing farmers a sustainable and reliable market.
“For the current season, our production target is 700,000 tonnes. By 2030, we want Tanzania to be a fully integrated cashew economy, from farming to processing and industrial by-products,” he said.
Production momentum and policy shift
According to Mr. Alfred, cashew production has grown markedly over the past four years. Output rose from 210,000 tonnes in 2020/21 to 528,000 tonnes in 2024/25, with projections exceeding 600,000 tonnes in the 2025/26 season.
According to the Board Director, this growth has been driven largely by policy interventions introduced under President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s administration, notably the provision of free agricultural inputs starting in the 2021/22 season.
“Before that, farmers relied on their own means to control pests and diseases,” CBT top official said. “Once free inputs were introduced, the impact on productivity was immediate and significant.”
Youth at the centre of extension services
One of the most transformative programmes has been the recruitment of 511 young agricultural graduates under the Building a Better Tomorrow (BBT) initiative.
These youth extension officers are deployed across cashew-growing wards, equipped with motorcycles, tablets, data bundles, fuel allowances and field support.
More than TSh8 billion has been invested in the programme, which the Board credits with improving farmer knowledge on pruning, irrigation, disease control and orchard rehabilitation.
“This is not just about production,” a CBT official noted. “It is about creating skilled rural employment for young people while modernising agriculture.”
Women and youth in value addition
Beyond farming, the Board is aggressively promoting domestic processing as a pathway to inclusive growth. Tanzania currently processes about 21 percent of its cashew output, up from less than 5 percent in 2021/22. The goal is full processing by 2030.
At the industrial scale, the Maranje Industrial Park in Mtwara – spanning 1,572 acres – is being developed as a dedicated hub for cashew processing and by-product manufacturing.
Phase one covers 354 acres and already has internal roads, electricity, water sources, warehouses and two anchor investors. The park will be registered as a Special Economic Zone to offer fiscal incentives.
For small-scale processors – many of whom are women – the Board is rolling out a targeted empowerment programme. This includes the establishment of rural processing centres and the distribution of 100 electric cashew-cutting machines to organised farmer groups. Fifty machines worth Tsh350 million have already been procured and will be distributed in this month.
“Most small processors were using manual machines, which limit productivity and quality,” the Director General. “Electric machines will improve efficiency and incomes, especially for women and youth groups.”
Affordable finance and export levy reform
Access to finance remains a key bottleneck. Commercial lending rates for processors range between 15 percent and 18 percent, making it difficult to hold raw material stocks and operate year-round.
To address this, the Board plans to ring-fence part of the 15 percent export levy on raw cashew nuts to establish a revolving fund offering single-digit interest loans through government-linked banks. “The original intention of the export levy was to discourage raw exports and support processing,” CBT officials explained. “Now we are aligning the money with that objective.”
