President of the National Apex of Cashew Farmers, Processors and Marketing Cooperative Ltd., Yunusa Enemali, has called for urgent investment in Nigeria’s cashew industry, stressing that the crop can yield over 40 high-value products if properly developed. In a video shared on X by ARISE News on Sunday, Enemali described cashew as an “emerging commodity” in Nigeria that has lacked a clear development policy, unlike cocoa. He noted that for decades, the country has only exported raw cashew nuts, thereby losing out on enormous economic opportunities. Enemali highlighted three core benefits of cashew: environmental, economic, and health. He explained that cashew farming could help Nigeria tap into the carbon credit market “as part of global climate action efforts, while also serving as a ready local market for over 200 million Nigerians without relying on exports.” He said, “Cashew has over 40 products. And the most expensive of them all is cashew nut shell liquid. Cashew nut shell liquid is one of the most valuable derivatives, selling between $70 and $90 per litre, while carbon credits trade between $150 and $500.” “Cashew is the only cash crop that starts with the word ‘cash.’ From the seed to the table, everything about cashew is money,” he said. “But all we have been doing is exporting the raw nut. By doing that, we are exporting jobs and depriving farmers and processors of real benefits.” Beyond that, cashew can be processed into products such as milk, jam, biscuits, chin-chin, ethanol, brandy, hydraulic fluids, jet oil, and even pharmaceutical raw materials. “Are you aware you have cashew milk, cashew jam, cashew biscuits, cashew brandy, and many more? Yet we keep shipping the raw nuts abroad. “This has to change. Enough is enough. Let us begin to take advantage of what we have so that we can change the narrative,” he said. He lamented that since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, cashew farmers have received little or no support despite years of heavy investment in rural communities, where most cashew production takes place. Enemali urged the Federal Government to complete its ongoing cashew development roadmap, which he said should lead to the creation of a Nigerian Cashew Board to regulate prices, protect farmers, and drive value addition. “If this roadmap is scaled through and turned into policy, farmers will finally get the incentives and recognition they deserve,” he said. “Cashew has the potential to transform rural communities and position Nigeria as a global leader in value-added exports.”