The Cashew Project

The Cashew Development Program relies on the power of business to alleviate poverty. Built on the foundation of empowering people to answer their own social concerns, LEAD found that creating sustainable locally generated revenue was vital to success.

Cashews are widely available in the region of Sene-Gambia, and exist as a potentially high-value food product. By selling only raw cashews farmers capture approximately 10% of the retail value of their cashews. However, by processing cashews for the consumer and selling the product in the retail marketplace, producers can capture roughly 50%-60% of the retail value. The additional revenue benefits their local communities. It provides processing jobs that range between 2 and 10 times the per capita income. The dynamic economic impact statistically is 7 times that through local merchant/consumer transactions.

One of the reasons retail production frequently is not considered by development organizations and business is because of higher upfront costs. However, the benefits provided by producing finished, consumer-ready goods make LEAD’s approach unique and highly effective.

LEAD invests in people. We invest time and resources into education of the work force. We help farmers and processors collaborate. We work with nationals to create systems that make sense and take into account the many risks associated with working in rural Africa.

The process works much like a startup company. In business everything begins with an idea. So we begin with education. We add skill training and reinforce the importance of product quality and improved worker conditions. We groom business plans so that they are lean and efficient. LEAD directly oversees cashew production in order to prove business assumptions and establish fixed costs. The availability of good information is one of the primary reasons that many cashew processors succeed or fail.

LEAD and its partners have helped develop a substantial distribution network that allows anyone in the cashew processing network to have immediate opportunity to sell their product. We foster collaboration between processors and farmers so that new businesses can be formed that may only be able to provide a limited service to the local processors.

LEAD can duplicate this approach with just about any agri-food product and in just about any region of West Africa.