Cashew leads Mozambique's agricultural exports with $82.9 million in first half of 2026

Value falls faster than volume

Raw cashew nut exports from Mozambique generated 82.9 million dollars (70.9 million euros) in the first half of 2026, keeping the crop at the top of the country's agricultural export basket. The figures come from first-half execution data compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries and reported by Jornal Economico. Revenue was 17.7% below the 100.7 million dollars (86.1 million euros) recorded in the same period of 2025.

Shipped volume barely moved. Exporters loaded 73,391 tonnes between January and June 2026, against 74,664 tonnes a year earlier, a decline of about 1.7%. The gap between a marginal volume drop and a double-digit revenue fall points to weaker unit prices rather than a supply shortfall: the reported figures imply an average export value of roughly 1,129 dollars per tonne this year, down from about 1,349 dollars per tonne in the first half of 2025.

Vietnam and India remained the leading destinations for Mozambican raw cashew, followed by South Africa. Both Asian buyers operate large shelling and processing industries that depend on imported raw nuts from West and East Africa.

The rest of the export basket

Despite the cashew decline, Mozambique's total agricultural exports reached 108.5 million dollars (92.8 million euros) in the first six months, a 5% increase on the 103.2 million dollars (88.3 million euros) of the same period in 2025. Raw cashew alone accounted for more than three quarters of that revenue, leaving the country's agricultural export earnings closely tied to a single commodity.

The remaining products reported by the ministry were:

• Macadamia: 19 million dollars (16.2 million euros), the second-largest agricultural export, with Vietnam and China as the main buyers.
• Sesame: 16.8 million dollars (14.4 million euros), shipped mostly to China.
• Soybeans: 4.6 million dollars (3.9 million euros).
• Cotton fibre: 4.2 million dollars (3.6 million euros), up from 2.5 million dollars (2.1 million euros), with Bangladesh, Dubai and Switzerland among the main destinations.

New rules for the cashew value chain

On 4 August the Mozambican government approved a new regulation for the cashew value chain, implementing the 2023 Cashew Law and revoking the regime in force since 2018. According to the executive, the text sets specific rules for promotion, production, drying, packaging, storage, marketing, transport, processing, export and import of cashew, with the aim of harmonising and updating the sector's entire legal framework.

The government argues that the revision is needed to address current challenges in the activity and to strengthen national competitiveness in an increasingly demanding international market. The proposed regulation is, in the executive's words, “pertinent and crucial for strengthening the competitiveness of the cashew value chain in all its breadth and of the country in the global cashew market”.

A $374 million programme to 2034

Competitiveness measures also form part of the Cashew Value Chain Development Programme 2025-2034, valued at 374 million dollars (320 million euros). The programme targets an increase in annual output from the current 158,000 tonnes to 689,000 tonnes by 2034, a rise in the number of assisted producers from around 230,000 to more than 600,000, and growth in processing capacity from 40,000 tonnes to more than 482,000 tonnes, alongside deeper digitalisation of the sector.

Earlier ministry data indicate that cashew marketing in the 2024/2025 campaign reached approximately 195,400 tonnes, approaching the historical levels recorded during the colonial period. In 1973 Mozambique ranked second worldwide in processed cashew output at around 210,000 tonnes, behind only India. After independence in 1975 production fell to some 15,000 to 20,000 tonnes a year, recovering progressively over recent decades.