President John Dramani Mahama of Ghana has urged foreign companies trading in Ghana’s raw cashew to establish processing factories in the country or exit the market. Speaking at the inaugural Ghana Tree Crops Investment Summit and Exhibition in Accra, President Mahama described the arrangement as one that had deprived farmers and the wider economy of fair returns. According to local media reports, the new policy signals an end to the long-standing practice of exporting unprocessed tree crop commodities while importing finished products at higher prices. “We will no longer export raw cashew. I invite our investment partners who export cashews to come and build the capacity to process our cashew locally. I want to travel and be able to buy cashew and see the produce of Ghana, not the produce of India or produce of some third-party country,” he said. President Mahama extended the directive to shea and rubber. “We will no longer export raw cashew, raw shea, or unprocessed rubber while importing the same finished products at higher prices,” he said. However, this new policy drive has implications for about 890,000 people working in the cashew sector, most of whom are smallholder farmers in the Brong Ahafo, Bono East, and Savannah regions who rely on sales of unprocessed nuts shipped abroad for processing. The summit, organised by the Tree Crops Development Authority and supported by the World Bank, is being held from February 17 to February 20, 2026, under the theme, “Sustainable Growth Through Tree Crop Investments: Resetting and Building Ghana’s Green Economy.” President Mahama also announced that the government targets to process between 50 and 60 per cent of tree crop commodities locally each year and that it would be backed by the expansion of agro-industrial parks, incentives for private processors, and stronger regulatory oversight through the Tree Crops Development Authority. “Our target is clear,” he said. “50% to 60% local processing annually, expansion of agro-industrial parks, incentives for private sector processors, and stronger regulatory oversight through the Tree Crops Development Authority.” The President also relaunched and accelerated the Ghana Tree Crop Diversification Project, a $200 million World Bank-supported programme under which 7.8 million cashew seedlings, 2.3 million rubber seedlings, and 3.9 million coconut seedlings are to be distributed to more than 30,000 farmers. President Mahama said that 52,775 households would benefit directly, while 185 small and medium enterprises would receive matching grants. “I’ve directed the Tree Crops Development Authority and COCOBOD to expedite implementation of this programme,” he said. “Our farmers must see results, not paperwork.” He stressed the need for Ghana to move away from exporting raw commodities, citing cocoa exports dating back to the colonial period. President Mahama stressed the need for Ghana to move away from exporting raw commodities, citing cocoa exports dating back to the colonial period.