The history of cashew in Nigeria dated back to 15th century. Then, it was mainly used in afforestation schemes for the control of erosion in the former Eastern Nigeria.

However, the commercial cashew plantations started in Nigeria in the early 1950s with the establishment of first commercial plantations at Oghe, Oji and Mbala by the defunct Eastern Nigeria Development Corporation (ENDC) and Iwo, Eruwa and Upper Ogun by the defunct Western Nigeria Development Corporation (WNDC).

From these locations, the planting of the crop spread to other parts of Nigeria particularly Ogbomoso in Oyo state where Suntwist Nigeria is one of the major firm into the cultivation of this crop. 

Cashew is a plantation crop grown for a variety of uses. The commodity of commercial importance is the fruit and nut. The fruits can be processed into cashew juice and the nuts can be processed into cashew kernels and cashew nut shell liquid {CNSL}

The nut contains 47% fat, 21% protein and 22% carbohydrate. It also contains vitamins, especially thiamine. Cashew nut proteins are complete, having all the essential amino acids and a kilogram of the nut yields about 6000 calories compared to 3600 calories from cereals, 1800 calories from meat and 650 calories from fresh citrus fruit.

Cashew grows like a weed, fairly drought resistant and grow well on marginal soils where other fruit crops would not thrive. It can grow in wet/dry tropics, the best soils for growing cashews are sandy soils which is dominant in Ogbomoso, Oyo State. 
Cashew can withstand an average day temperature of around 25°C (77F) for optimum performance.

Nigeria is home to 15 cashew processing factories but their combined production capacity is not enough to meet even the local demand. Eighty percent of raw cashew nuts from Nigeria is exported to India, Vietnam and other countries.

The raw cashew nut industry yields N23billion annually from the production of 120,000 metric tons of cashew putting the sector to possibly another revenue spinner for the federal government.

Nigeria is the 6th largest producer of cashew in the world after India, Brazil, Vietnam, Guinea Bissau and Tanzania. Like most African producers, most of Nigeria’s production are exported in raw form to India and Vietnam for processing and export with added value and benefits to those economies. Vietnam, for example entered the field of cashew production for export in the early 80’s about the same time Nigerians became aware of the commercial significance of cashew.

The factors we consider at Suntwist Nigeria Ltd before cultivating Cashew includes land, choice of seed variety, time of planting, seed rate, spacing and other agricultural practices which are more favourable in the city of Ogbomoso because of its weather condition.

Clearly, its no longer a cliche that there's  sustainable market for Cashew cultivation and production in Nigeria for both local and export market.

For more information, reach us through the contacts below:

www.suntwist.com.ng,
+234 (0) 8102777209,
hello@suntwist.com.ng

Thanks op