Knowledge · Market

Cashew Production by Country

Raw cashew nuts are grown mainly across West and East Africa and South/Southeast Asia. Processing has historically concentrated in Vietnam and India — a gap African origins are now closing.

Updated August 2026 · TTQ Co. Ltd.

In short

Global raw cashew nut (RCN) production is led by West African countries (Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Benin, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau), East Africa (Tanzania, Mozambique), and Asia (India, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia). Côte d’Ivoire is the largest RCN grower, while Vietnam and India have dominated processing and export of kernels. A major trend is African origin countries building their own processing capacity to capture more value at source rather than exporting raw nuts.

Region	Key producing countries	Role
West Africa	Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Benin, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau	Largest RCN growers
East Africa	Tanzania, Mozambique	Major RCN growers
South Asia	India	Grower & large processor
Southeast Asia	Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia	Grower & leading processors
South America	Brazil	Regional grower & processor

Indicative — rankings shift year to year with harvests.

The value-capture shift

Countries that grow raw nuts increasingly want to process them locally to keep jobs and margin at home. That is exactly what TTQ enables — factory setup by country.

Answers

Frequently asked questions

Which country produces the most cashews?

Côte d’Ivoire is typically the largest producer of raw cashew nuts, while Vietnam and India lead in processing and kernel export.

Why do African countries export raw nuts?

Historically they lacked local processing capacity, so raw nuts were shipped to Asia. Many are now building their own plants to capture more value at source.

Explore more

Related reading & machines

Plants · By country

Cashew Factory Setup by Country

Local processing, wherever you grow

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Pricing · Commodity

Raw Cashew Nut (RCN) Price

What drives the RCN market

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Turnkey · Fully automatic plant

Fully Automatic Cashew Processing Plant

From raw nut to sealed kernel — one automated line

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Company · Agriculture

Cashew Harvesting Machine

Cashew harvesting is still largely manual. Mechanised aids exist for collection and de-appling, but full mechanical harvesting of cashew remains limited.

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Talk to a cashew engineer

Tell us your target capacity, grades and location — we’ll come back with a costed proposal.

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