Kraft Foods is one of the biggest buyers of cashews in the world. There are 2.5 million cashew farmers in Africa, representing approximately 40 percent of the global market of raw nuts. Most of these cashews are not de-shelled in Africa, but rather are shipped to India and then re-exported. Low productivity and supply chain inefficiencies undermine the operation of the sector.

For this reason Kraft Foods is participating in a four-year project with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other companies and organizations to improve the livelihoods of cashew farmers in Africa. The partnership, led by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH, German Technical Cooperation, provides around $50 million in cash and technical project support to train producers and link them with local processing facilities. The program also promotes the value of by-products and builds incentives for local processors.

Like cocoa, the supply of cashews is affected by hunger and poverty. By helping these agricultural industries that the African economy relies on, we can help reduce the cycle of poverty that plagues the region, with the goal of building incentives for local processors to create jobs and to develop their capacity to supply the growing global cashew market.

You can visit our Better World site to learn more about our work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.