The reference price for raw cashew nuts in Mozambique will rise by 6.67% to 48 meticais (0.67 euros) per kilogram, the Government announced today, while calling for an intensified crackdown on smuggling that inflicts millions of euros in economic losses annually. “Given the advance consultation and the consensus reached during discussions (…), we formally announce that the Almond Committee has set the producer reference price at 48 meticais per kilogram,” stated the Minister of Agriculture, Environment, and Fisheries, Roberto Albino. The official was speaking in Maputo following a meeting of the Almond Committee to establish the producer purchase reference price for the 2026/2027 marketing campaign. The new price per kilogram reflects a 6.67% increase compared to the previous agricultural campaign, when one kilogram was traded at 45 meticais (0.61 euros). “An export surtax rate (taxa de sobrevalorização) of 22% will apply during this campaign, compared to the 18% in effect last year,” said the minister, urging farmers to maintain cashew groves and plant new trees, while encouraging industrial processors to remain resilient in sustaining the sector. The Minister of Agriculture also demanded tighter controls against cashew smuggling, noting that over the past three years alone, 35,000 metric tons of raw cashew nuts were smuggled out of the country, generating losses of 457 million meticais (6.3 million euros), according to data from the Almond Institute (Instituto de Amêndoas de Moçambique – IAM). Roberto Albino emphasized that this illegal trade is also draining foreign currency reserves, stressing the need for criminal prosecution against offenders. During the meeting, the minister underscored that the corporate entities involved in smuggling cashew nuts—exporting to destinations such as India and Vietnam without declaring shipments and thereby defrauding the Treasury—are known, with the Government declaring the practice an economic crime that must carry criminal penalties beyond administrative fines. “If we want to stop smugglers in Mozambique, we must criminalize their actions and treat them as theft of public funds. It must carry prison sentences,” the minister stated. According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Environment, and Fisheries, raw cashew nut production in Mozambique peaked over 50 years ago during the colonial era, exceeding 200,000 metric tons annually. By the mid-1970s, Mozambique stood as the world’s second-largest cashew producer (processing 210,000 metric tons in 1973), trailing only India, which bought—and continues to buy—a large share of national output. Following Mozambique’s independence on June 25, 1975, annual production collapsed by over 90% to around 15,000 to 20,000 metric tons. However, production has steadily recovered in recent years; during the 2024/2025 campaign, Mozambique consolidated its position as a major producer, maintaining 7th place globally. According to previous Ministry of Agriculture figures, Mozambique’s nut value chain “involves approximately 1,047,000 smallholder families, 69 corporate processors, and 7,287 formal workers nationwide.” In Maputo Province alone, the sector engages 32,168 families, serving as “the main domestic consumption market for processed kernels and generating numerous business opportunities.”