Cashews are definitely in the group of well-known nuts globally but they are not nuts in the true sense. Technically, a nut is a fruit that consists of a hard shell covering a single seed. That being the case, cashews are classified as drupes. A drupe is a fleshy fruit with a thin skin and usually has a single seed.
As for cashews, the seed protrudes from the apple. Both are eaten but it is the cashew seed that is fondly known as cashew nut. In fact, cashews have to be shelled first before they are sold. The reason is that the double shell of a cashew seed is separated by a toxic oily substance that can cause skin irritation.
Cashew nuts can be eaten as a snack. They are great on their own because of their creamy taste and crumbly texture. They are often roasted and salted to bring out their nutty flavor. Firstly, they are crunchy and then creamy after chewing longer.
The daily recommended serving of nuts, including cashews, is 30g. In other words, nutritionists advice that adults should eat 1/3 of a cup or a handful of cashews on most days of the week. Around 15-20 cashew nuts make up a handful. Moreover, eating a handful of cashews lowers your risk of chronic disease such as heart disease and diabetes.
Cashew Nuts Tanzania
One of the biggest challenges cashew nut farmers in Tanzania encounter is how to find buyers of their crop. It is for this reason that Tanzanian cashews are mainly purchased by brokers. Essentially, a broker is the middle man between a farmer and a buyer. The buyer can either be local or international.
Cashewnut Board of Tanzania (CBT) is in charge of giving out buying licenses. Hence, Tanzanian cashew farmers earn well after selling their crop to licensed brokers. A number of these brokers use their relationships and market experience to connect cashew farmers in Tanzania to international buyers.
Cashew Nuts Export
Exports of cashew nuts from Tanzania were valued at nearly 250 million US Dollars in 2022. Compared to the previous year, it is an increase of 44%. The sharpest climb was from 2018 to 2019 when the export value rose from about 245,000 US Dollars to around 360 million US Dollars.
Here are the total values in export of cashew nuts from Tanzania between 2013 and 2022
Cashew Nuts Price per kg in Tanzania
The cost of a kilo of raw cashew nuts in Tanzania can be between 1,500 Tanzanian Shillings (US0.6 Dollars) and 2,500 Tanzanian Shillings (US1 Dollar). This is based on the average export price per kg. This wholesale price has gone as low as 1,000 Tanzanian Shillings (US0.4 Dollars).
Cashew Price in Tanzania
Just like any other fresh produce, consumption of cashew nuts does not change as much as prices go up and down. The price of Tanzanian cashews at retail level is influenced by many factors. This is why consumers should expect price fluctuations throughout the year. Not only does it occur in the domestic market but also in the international market.
In the first place, climatic factors like rainfall, temperature affect production volume and quality. If there are hostile weather conditions in Tanzania like too little rain and long droughts, it can reduce cashew yields. On top of that, pests and diseases cause low productivity. Hence, cashews from Tanzania will cost more.
Secondly, the time of purchase determines how much consumers will buy Tanzania cashew nuts. Cashews harvested at the beginning or end of the season in Tanzania are more expensive than those harvested when the season is in its peak. The heightened supply leads to lower prices.
Thirdly, Tanzania cashew nuts price is swayed by market factors. Differences in supply from other cashew producing countries can cause big price variations. Evidently, shortages in other countries pushes up prices for cashews from Tanzania. Besides, prices for Tanzania cashews plummet when there is abundant supply or oversupply in those countries.
Cashew Nuts Price in Tanzania
The price of cashew nuts grown in Tanzania is also subject to demand factors. Farmers fetch better prices for larger cashews than smaller ones because consumers pay more. Furthermore, the farther away the market is from the source, the higher the price.
The global price of raw cashew nuts at various sea ports changes from year to year due to supply and demand balance. Thus, CBT finds out the price and works back from there. Afterwards, CBT negotiates with buyers to determine a price to be paid to farmers at Primary Societies.
Many cashew buyers in Tanzania deal with Primary Societies. A Primary Society is a group of crop producers at the village level. Generally, a cashew nut Primary Society has godowns which act as the official buying centers for cashews. These Primary Societies get a commission on the value of cashew nuts sold.
Cashew nuts buyers in Tanzania are fit mostly into three categories:
- Local companies. They send their own employees to buy directly from farmers. Some of them are large enough to have an export permit from CBT to sell outside the country while some only sell within.
- Foreign-owned companies. Since they have less experience buying at the village level, they usually appoint agents to buy on their behalf. They also require an export permit from CBT.
- They either buy directly from farmers or from small local companies that don’t have the capital or the contacts to set up export deals themselves. It is evident that they already have an export permit from CBT.
It is rare to find raw cashew nuts being sold in the domestic market. There are people who farm cashew nuts, process them at a subsistence level and then sell them in community markets through vendors. There are others who do small and medium scale processing and sell them to hotels, restaurants, airlines, educational institutions. Processed cashew nuts in Tanzania are sold in supermarkets, open air markets or on the streets by informal traders.