The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and the German Agency for International Corporation (GIZ) are targeting the over $7.57 billion estimated cashew nut global market. Nigeria’s quest to meet the rising global demand for cashew nuts is gradually yielding results as the Council and GIZ have agreed to work together to increase the production and processing of the commodity. While signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with GIZ in Abuja, the Executive Director of NEPC, Dr. Ezra Yakusak, said the collaboration will increase the export of the cashew nut in the country. According to statement by Ndubuze Okeke, Yakusak, who was represented by the Director of Product Development, Mrs. Evelyn Obidike, reiterated that the partnership was in line with the Federal Government’s non-oil export diversification agenda which seeks to stimulate expertise, inclusiveness, innovativeness and competitiveness. “The overall outcome is to achieve a paradigm shift by repositioning Nigeria as an exporter of a wide range of value-added high-premium quality cashew products to certified global niche markets and expedite a successful internationalization process for local stakeholders in the cashew value chain in Nigeriaâ€, he added. He said he was optimistic that the collaboration will be characterized by tremendous up-scaling of production of high-yielding cashew varieties, increased local processing, enabled compliance to mandatory certification and sustainable entry into niche export markets. “We also expect that the collaboration will further support gender empowerment, reliable data from empirical research for effective policy formulation and implementation, technical exchanges as well as export competency development. “The NEPC together with GIZ MOVE is determined to leverage our unique competencies to deliver direct benefits to local farmers, aggregators, processors, packers, exporters, importers, service providers, export facilitating agencies and prospective investors novel solutionsâ€. On his part, Mr. Florain Winckler, Programme Leader (GIZ MOVE) expressed optimism that the partnership between both parties will further go a long way in adding value to the Cashew sector by building the capacity of the operators, increasing production and processing of high-quality cashew and thereby make the product competitive in the global market. It is reported that the cashew market size is expected to reach $8.91 billion by 2028 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 3.31% during the period (2023-2028).