The Burkina Faso government announced it will maintain the minimum farmgate price for raw cashew nuts at CFA385 ($0.69) per kilogram, the same level set in 2025. The decision was made public by Ismaël Sombié, Minister of Agriculture, during a ceremony in Ouagadougou on February 21 marking the launch of the country’s 2026 fruit campaigns.
This price remains below levels applied in neighboring countries—$0.79 per kilogram in Ivory Coast and $1.09 per kilogram in Ghana. Unlike these countries, which have reduced farmgate prices by 6% and 20% respectively due to uncertainty in international demand, Burkina Faso has opted for stability.
Minister Sombié explained that maintaining the price guarantees access to raw cashew nuts for local processing units, a continuation of policies aimed at reviving the domestic processing sector launched in 2025.
Authorities also introduced an exclusive purchasing window for national processing units and the National Food Security Stock Management Company (SONAGESS) from February 21 to April 1. “During this strategic period, exports are suspended to ensure priority supply to the local market and support the national industry,” the Burkina Faso Council for Agropastoral and Fisheries Sectors (CBF) said in a statement.
This move mirrors Ivory Coast’s policy, which prioritizes industrial supply before opening exports to international traders. In March 2025, Burkina Faso temporarily suspended exports for the same purpose, lifting the ban in May once domestic factories were adequately supplied.
Preliminary estimates by independent trade advisory N’kalô suggest that cashew processing volumes in Burkina Faso fell by 33% to 10,000 tons in 2025. It is not yet clear whether the exclusive purchasing period for industrial operators will boost production and processing in 2026, as the government has not disclosed specific targets for the campaign.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Burkina Faso produced an average of nearly 115,014 tons of cashew nuts annually between 2020 and 2024, reaching a peak of 147,616 tons in 2024.
