What You Need to Know
Mozambique’s cashew exports soared to $121.6 million in 2025, nearly tripling from $44.1 million in 2024. The increase in volume from 48,403 tonnes to 93,247 tonnes reflects strong demand, particularly from Vietnam and India. The government plans to invest $374 million to enhance the cashew sector, aiming to boost production significantly by 2034.
Africa-Press – Mozambique. Mozambique’s gross cashew exports surged in 2025 to US$121.6 million, according to provisional data from the Ministry of Agriculture.
According to 2025 execution data, exports almost tripled in a year, up from US$44.1 million in 2024, with Viet Nam and India as the main destinations.
The volume exported by Mozambique also increased, rising from 48,403 tonnes in 2024 to 93,247 tonnes in 2025, according to the same data.
Mozambique’s macadamia exports are also growing, increasing from US$30.2 million in 2024 to US$39.9 million in 2025.
Mozambique plans to invest US$374 million to develop the cashew sector and increase annual production from the current 158,000 tonnes to 689,000 tonnes by 2034, the government announced in October 2025.
According to information from the Ministry of Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries at the time, the objective of the programme, to be implemented across the country, is to promote the sustainable and competitive development of the cashew value chain, strengthening research, production support, extension services, marketing and processing, contributing to increased production and farmer incomes and creating employment opportunities.
“Cashew nuts are a product of social cohesion and promote food and nutritional security. We encourage them to be introduced into school feeding programmes and into recipes in our restaurants,” said Minister Roberto Albino, quoted in the same statement.
The Cashew Value Chain Development Programme 2025–2034 includes reforms to implementation mechanisms aimed at strengthening the industry. In addition to increasing production levels, it also foresees expanding assistance capacity from 230,000 to more than 600,000 producers, processing capacity from 40,000 to more than 482,000 tonnes, and consolidating the digitalisation of the sector.
The programme was formally launched in October, with Minister Roberto Albino stressing that the State should focus on creating a favourable business environment through policies that promote rapid business development.
“Stakeholders in the nut value chain should say what they want the government to do, so that the business environment can flow in a way that generates wealth for the country,” the Minister of Agriculture said.
Roberto Albino added that the aim is to foster alliances between actors, benefiting both producers and industrial operators and exporters, contributing to national development.
“We intend to make the cashew industry function without major State intervention,” he said.
The implementation of the programme also requires viewing the entire chain as a business in order to increase cashew nut revenues.
Official data previously indicated that cashew nut commercialisation in Mozambique reached around 195,400 tonnes in the 2024/2025 campaign, a historic milestone close to the record levels of the 1970s, when the country was one of the world’s largest producers.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, cashew production in Mozambique reached more than 200,000 tonnes per year around 50 years ago, during the colonial period. Until the mid-1970s, Mozambique was the world’s second-largest cashew producer (210,000 tonnes processed in 1973), behind India, which then, as now, purchased a large share of that output.
After Mozambique’s independence on 25 June 1975, production fell to less than 10% of those levels, to around 15,000–20,000 tonnes per year, but has been gradually increasing annually. In the 2024/2025 campaign, the country stood out among major producers, ranking seventh globally.
Historically, Mozambique was a leading cashew producer, ranking second globally in the 1970s with over 200,000 tonnes annually. Post-independence in 1975, production plummeted to about 15,000–20,000 tonnes due to political and economic turmoil. However, recent years have seen a resurgence in production, with Mozambique now ranking seventh among global producers, reflecting a gradual recovery and strategic investments in the sector. The government’s new initiatives aim to revitalize the cashew industry and restore its former prominence.
