Dembele, a 36-year-old father of two, had sold only five bags of nuts since the start of the season in March, compared with around 20 bags over the same period in previous years.
“No one wants to buy cashew, even if I ask for 150 CFA francs per kilogram instead of the farm gate price of 315CFA francs. No one wants to pay, so the entire harvest remains with us,” said Dembele, who owns a 10-hectare farm. Ivory Coast, the world’s biggest cocoa producer, has become the leading global cashew producer. Output rose from 400,000 tonnes in 2011 to 1 million tonnes in 2022, and is expected at the same level in 2023. Production has risen in other countries during the same period, said Ganesh Rajaraman of Olam Food Ingredients, a unit of agri-food giant Olam Group.
In Bouake, the heart of the country’s cashew processing industry, work has come to a near standstill as employers struggle to pay salaries. Factories had flourished in the boom years, some borrowing heavily in response to the government’s plan to boost local processing. But slump in demand and low prices have pushed them to the verge of bankruptcy.