Burkina Faso: Suspension of Raw Cashew Nut Exports
The government is stepping up initiatives to process agricultural products locally.
In Burkina Faso, the export of raw cashew nuts has been suspended across the entire national territory until further notice, the government announced in an interministerial statement dated March 28, 2025.
According to the authorities, this measure aims to ensure the availability of raw cashew nuts as raw material for national industrial processing units.
"As a result, the issuance of Special Export Authorizations (ASE) is suspended," the statement reads.
The government further stated that economic operators holding valid ASEs and who have already started customs export procedures have a seven-day window to complete them.
The Burkina Cashew Council (CBA) welcomed the measure as part of efforts to promote local processing and add value to strategic agricultural sectors.
“The Burkinabe government, through the ministries responsible for Industry, Agriculture, and Finance, is taking a strong step to enhance the competitiveness of the national cashew industry,” the Council said.
According to the Council, suspending raw cashew exports will help secure supply for processing units, create added value, generate jobs, and strengthen economic sovereignty.
385 FCFA per Kilogram
The CBA urged all stakeholders to comply with the new regulations for the sustainable development of the sector.
However, the government warned that violators of this decision will face penalties in accordance with current regulations.
In February 2025, the government set the farm-gate price of raw cashew nuts at 385 FCFA per kilogram for the 2025 marketing season.
This is an increase of 75 FCFA or 24.19% compared to the 2024 season, where the price stood at 310 FCFA/kg. According to Sika Finance, the cashew sector in Burkina Faso involves 243,971 households, with an average annual production of 200,000 tonnes over the past five years.
The country has a total of 26 processing units employing nearly 9,580 people, over 92% of whom are women. Despite this infrastructure, only 16,333 tonnes are processed locally each year, while the majority of the production is exported in raw form.
In 2023, cashew was Burkina Faso's second-largest agricultural export product, with 124,900 tonnes of raw cashew nuts exported, generating 60.9 billion FCFA in revenue. Local processing accounted for 11.5 billion FCFA in export earnings.
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