Ghana Transforms Cashew Apples Into New Source of Income

Ghana, one of Africa’s leading cashew producers, is finding new economic value in cashew apples, a largely discarded fruit that is providing an additional source of income for farmers.

The country produces about a quarter of a million tonnes of raw cashew nuts annually. However, cashew trees produce far more apples than nuts, with much of the fruit traditionally left unprocessed and unsold, according to industry officials.

While farmers carefully collect the nuts for sale to buyers, the fleshy apples attached to them are often left behind. The fruit begins to spoil within hours, turning a potentially valuable part of the harvest into waste.

For decades, cashew apples have remained largely outside the market economy, as farmers have had few buyers for the fruit. The lack of nearby processing facilities also makes it difficult to transport the fruit before it spoils.

Now, researchers, farmers and industry leaders believe the discarded fruit could become a new source of income for rural communities if Ghana develops the systems needed to collect, process and market it.

Waste to Value
Francisca Aba Ansah, a food post-harvest scientist at the CSIR-Food Research Institute and project lead for MA-CASH, said; “the opportunity became clear after field visits revealed the scale of cashew apple waste.”

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“MA-CASH basically means Maximising Gains from Cashew Production for Youth Development,” Ansah said.

She said; “the project began by assessing the level of waste in cashew-growing areas and the processing options available.”

Working with farming communities, researchers developed products including juice, juice blends, sausages, bagels and other foods made from cashew apples.

Ansah said; “one of the major challenges was the fruit’s high tannin content, which affects its taste and consumer acceptance.”

“Cashew apples have high tannin content, so we did a lot of research to reduce the tannin and minimise the anti-nutrient effects when people consume the products,” she said.

Another major challenge is the fruit’s short shelf life. Fresh cashew apples can spoil within 24 hours of harvest, making transportation from farms to processing centres difficult.

“When you harvest cashew apples, within 24 hours, it goes bad. We developed the technology that allows farmers to keep it for up to six days before it is shipped to the processing centre. When it gets there, it can be refrigerated for the whole year for production,” she said.

Preservation technology has been tested through pilot work under the project and could support commercial collection and processing in farming communities.

The project is also exploring off-season income opportunities, including beekeeping under cashew plantations.

Ansah said farmers could engage in beekeeping during the off-season, adding that honey produced from cashew plantations is of good quality.

“During the off-season, when you will not be working there, you can actually do beekeeping. The honey that comes from cashew has good quality, so farmers can still have their business running,” she said.

For some farmers, efforts to create value from cashew apples are already moving from possibility to practice.