Mozambique’s raw cashew exports generated $82.9 million in the first half of 2026, retaining their position as the country’s biggest agricultural export despite a 17.7% decline from the same period last year.
Data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries show that Mozambique’s agricultural exports reached $108.5 million in the first six months of 2026, up 5% from $103.2 million a year earlier.
Cashews accounted for more than three-quarters of agricultural export earnings. Export volumes, however, edged down to 73,391 tonnes from 74,664 tonnes in the first half of 2025.
Vietnam and India remained the main markets, followed by South Africa, highlighting Mozambique’s continued exposure to major Asian cashew-processing and trading hubs.
The decline in cashew earnings contrasts with stronger performance elsewhere in the agricultural export basket.
Macadamia nuts generated $19 million, making them the second-largest agricultural export, with Vietnam and China among the main buyers. Sesame exports generated $16.8 million, largely from sales to China, while soya beans brought in $4.6 million.
Cotton fibre was one of the strongest performers, with export revenue almost doubling to $4.2 million from $2.5 million. Bangladesh, Dubai and Switzerland were among the main destinations.
The export figures come as Mozambique moves to overhaul the regulatory framework governing its strategically important cashew industry.
In August, the government approved new regulations implementing the 2023 Cashew Act, replacing rules that had been in force since 2018.
The regulations cover the entire value chain, including cultivation, production, drying, packaging, storage, marketing, transport, processing, export and import.
“The proposed regulation is relevant and crucial for strengthening the competitiveness of the cashew value chain in its entirety and of the country in the global cashew market,” the government said when approving the regulations on Aug. 4.
The regulatory changes form part of a broader push to increase domestic production and processing rather than rely primarily on raw-nut exports.
Mozambique’s 2025-2034 Cashew Value Chain Development Programme, valued at $374 million, aims to increase annual production from about 158,000 tonnes currently to 689,000 tonnes by 2034.
The programme also targets a sharp expansion in the number of supported producers, from about 230,000 to more than 600,000, while processing capacity is expected to rise from 40,000 tonnes to more than 482,000 tonnes.
Digitisation of the value chain is also among the programme’s targets.
The scale of the ambition reflects the strategic importance of cashews to Mozambique’s rural economy and export base. Ministry data show that cashew marketing reached about 195,400 tonnes in the 2024/25 marketing year, approaching production levels recorded during the country’s colonial period.
Mozambique was once a global cashew-processing powerhouse. In 1973, it ranked second worldwide in processed cashew production, with about 210,000 tonnes, behind India.
Following independence in 1975, production collapsed to roughly 15,000-20,000 tonnes a year before gradually recovering over subsequent decades.
The government’s latest strategy seeks to turn that recovery into sustained industrial growth by expanding production, processing and market access.
For Mozambique, the challenge is increasingly not simply producing more cashews but capturing a larger share of the value generated between the farm gate and the final consumer.
The sharp first-half decline in cashew export earnings underscores the volatility of the current model and the economic stakes behind Maputo’s push to build a more competitive, integrated domestic value chain.
Source: Lusa
