Cambodia’s Cashew Agriculture Ranked Third in the World by FAO
Caption: The 10th World Cashew Conference was held on Feb. 1 through 3 in Siem Reap province. Photo: Ministry of Commerce Facebook
- By Meng Seavmey
- February 4, 2024 4:00 PM
PHNOM PENH — The Cambodian cashew agriculture was ranked third in the world by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) during the 10th World Cashew Conference, which was held on Feb. 1 through 3 in Siem Reap province.
Cashew plantations cover around 470,000 hectares across the country, and mainly in Kampong Cham, Kampong Thom, Kratie, Ratanakkiri, Siem Reap and Stung Treng provinces.
Production in 2023 led to the country exporting around 656,000 tons of cashew nuts, generating $837 million in sales to Bangladesh, China, India, Japan, Thailand and Vietnam.
FAO announced Cambodia’s ranking during the conference, which was attended by as many as 500 participants from African and European countries as well as India, the United States and Vietnam come to look into the quality of Cambodia’s cashew nuts and products that were exhibited at the event.
The conference was an opportunity for national and international entrepreneurs and cashew processors to share their experience in cashew, and discuss regional and global markets, said Cambodia’s Minister of Commerce Cham Nimul on Feb. 1.
Phal Phearum, an organizer of the event and a board member of the Cambodian Cashew Federation, said on Feb. 3 that the conference, which was meant to help promote Cambodian cashew among investors and regional entrepreneurs, was also an opportunity to look into new markets and especially in European countries.
A new opportunity for the cashew industry
A step toward this goal took place during the conference when the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and the Cambodia Cashew Federation (CCF) signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the enhancement of the cashew value chain.
The MoU was signed by Stefan Hanselmann, GIZ economic development cluster coordinator, Till Ahnert, head of ARISE Plus Cambodia, and CCF President An Dara.
The parties agreed to strengthen cooperation through knowledge sharing, best practices, and resources to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the institution, according to the GIZ’s press release on Feb. 2.
During the press conference, European Union Ambassador Igor Driesmans, who attended the signing of the MoU said there would be programs with Germany this year to help improve international branding and exports of Cambodian cashew nuts and pepper to high-value markets such as those of the European Union.
During a media tour to cashew-nut processing enterprises in December 2023, Bryan Fornari, head of cooperation of the EU delegation, said that there is a high export potential for this Cambodian product in EU due to its quality and increased investments in the sector.
Cashew plantations cover around 470,000 hectares across the country, mostly in Kampong Cham, Kampong Thom, Kratie, Ratanakkiri, Siem Reap and Stung Treng provinces.
To boost the cashew industry, Cambodia is currently implementing four major measures in cashew processing and exports. These include strengthening and expanding cashew exports with semi-products such as dry cashew nuts before expanding cashew-nut processing, local branding and marketing.
The Cambodian government has been encouraging the launch of new cashew associations and looking into increasing working capital to purchase cashew nuts for processing and investment capital for infrastructures for storage and processing.
