Schedule Officer for Cashew and Miracle Berry at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Jerry Anim, has revealed that Ghana is effectively “exporting jobs” and losing critical profit margins by failing to process its raw cashew nuts locally.
Speaking at a debriefing seminar organized by the Ghana Private Sector Competitiveness Program II (GPSCP II) at the Cedi Conference Centre on Tuesday, March 31, 2026, he explained that shipping raw nuts abroad deprives the local economy of value-added revenue that sustains developed nations, while leaving Ghanaian processors struggling to survive in a highly competitive global market.
“We are producing 256,000 metric tons. We are adding value to less than 20,000 metric tons. What it means is that we are exporting the rest raw without any value addition. For every community that wants to add value, we pay more money. What it means is that we are exporting the value. We are exporting the margins. Most importantly, we are exporting jobs. Because if you move the raw material to different countries like Bangladesh, you are depriving your people of access to jobs here,” he explained.
Despite the economic drain caused by raw exports, Mr. Anim clarified that Ghana cannot yet follow the lead of nations like Mozambique, which have implemented total bans on raw cashew exports.
He noted that a premature ban would collapse the sector due to a lack of sufficient indigenous factory capacity to handle the current harvest.
“As it stands now, planners cannot afford to ban exports,” Mr. Anim stated. “Rather, we will support indigenous processors to increase our capacities so that we move to about 40% of our total production. We are supporting the establishment of at least ten new processing factories by 2030. This is also contained in the President’s vision for the sector,” he added.
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Story by Wilhemina Dushie | univers.ug.edu.gh
Edited by Erica Odeenyin Odoom
