Cashews

Table of Contents

Cashew harvesting and processing is labor intensive, so many processors outsource production to reduce labor costs, including to homeworkers.¹ Supply chain mapping efforts should capture both raw material production worksites as well as outsourced processing sites.
Cashew supply chains are cross-border, as raw cashew nuts are often aggregated and shipped abroad for processing. The mixing of origins may prevent effective identity preservation methods. Controlled blending approaches that set parameters for mixing based on product origins may be more suitable, in many cases.

Forced Labor or Trafficking in Persons cited by U.S. Government

Child Labor cited by U.S. Government

Risk of Child Labor cited by other source

Documented presence of migrant workers

Documented presence of other vulnerable workers

Documented presence or significant likelihood of third-party labor recruiters

Risk of Forced Labor or Trafficking in Persons cited by other source

Complex/opaque supply chains and/or lack of vertical integration

Large numbers of dispersed, unorganized, or informal small producers or other worksites

Multiple points of aggregation, co-mingling, and/or transformation across supply chain

Complex, opaque supply chains and/or lack of vertical integration

High degree of flexibility in procurement practices of downstream entities

Outsourcing to small, subcontracted processors or home workers is a common practice by Indian cashew processing factories to reduce labor costs.¹⁵ Similarly, in Côte d’Ivoire most raw cashews are grown on small, individual farms rather than as part of a cooperative.¹⁶
Raw cashew nuts are transformed into edible cashew kernels through multiple processing steps.¹⁷ These steps include roasting, shelling, drying, peeling, grading, quality controls, and fumigation.¹⁸ Cashew nuts from multiple farms, including from different countries of origin, are often aggregated together during the shipping and processing nodes of the supply chain.¹⁹
The cashew supply chain is complex and international. The supply chain of cashews is complicated by the export of raw cashew nuts from farms in West Africa to India and Vietnam for processing.²⁰ Traders and brokers buy and sell raw cashew nuts between growing and processing countries, and the processors and packagers in the European Union and United States.²¹ Retailers then buy the packaged cashews from the EU or U.S. packagers.²² Therefore, stages of the cashew nut supply chain are spread across different countries and are often punctuated by middlemen, increasing the opacity of the supply chain.
There is high flexibility of procurement due to the large numbers of small, subcontracted processors and the short terms of contracts between buyers and processors, allowing lead buyers to switch between producers.²³

Scale or nature of risk varies significantly based on geographic area of production

Scale or nature of risk is present across multiple tiers or nodes of supply chain (including in associated downstream or upstream goods)

Scale or nature of risk is strongly associated with certain types of suppliers/entities

The risk of child labor is dependent on geographic location as it has only been reported in Vietnam, Brazil, and Guinea.²⁴
Child labor is present across multiple tiers of the supply chain, including the agricultural and harvesting stages as well as the raw cashew nut processing stage.²⁵

The cashew production chain can vary depending on whether the raw cashew nut is processed within the country where it is harvested or exported to be processed overseas. Most cashew nuts grown in Africa are exported as raw nuts to be processed and deshelled in other countries, particularly Vietnam and India.²⁶

The raw cashew nut production chain (foreign processing) is structured as follows: input suppliers; raw cashew nut producers; raw cashew nut exporters, potentially passing through traders and aggregators; importers; foreign processers/packagers; retailers; and consumers.²⁷

The raw cashew nut production (domestic processing) chain consists of the following steps: input suppliers; raw cashew nut producers; traders and aggregators; domestic processors; processed cashew exporters; importers; foreign processers/packagers (who will sometimes salt/mix with other ingredients prior to packaging);²⁸ retailers; and consumers.²⁹

Indian states ship processed cashews to EU countries, where EU processors package the cashews for EU consumption.³⁰

Risks of child labor are reported in both the harvesting of raw cashew nuts and the processing of the raw nuts to cashew kernels.³¹

Raw Cashew Nut Producers

Raw Cashew Nut Processors to Cashew Kernals

Secondary Cashew Nut Packagers/Processors

Retailers

Food and Beverage

Cashew kernels are the edible portion of the nut and the primary commercial product. They can be consumed raw or as roasted and salted nuts and in confectionary and bakery products. The fruit of the cashew tree that surrounds the kernel can be made into a juice with high vitamin C content and is also fermented to produce cashew wine.

Textiles Apparel and Luxury Goods

The skin of the cashew can be recovered and used in the tanning of animal hides, due to its high tannins content, as part of the leather making process.

Fresh or dried cashew nuts, in shell

Fresh or dried cashew nuts, shelled

Cashew nuts, with shell

Côte d’Ivoire³⁴
India
Vietnam
Burundi
Philippines
Tanzania
Benin
Mali
Burkina Faso
Guinea-Bissau

Rainforest Alliance (Identity Preservation)Rainforest Alliance (Bulk Commodity)Fairtrade International Cashew Traceability using Product Tracking

1
Cashing in on Cashews: How EU supermarkets drive exploitation of cashew workers in India. Traidcraft, 2013, static1.squarespace.com/static/59242ebc03596e804886c7f4/t/59f3136f53450aa9d1475e08/1509102449357/Cashing+in+on+cashews.pdf.
2
2022 Trafficking in Persons Report, U.S. Department of State, 19 July 2022, www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/337308-2022-TIP-REPORT-inaccessible.pdf.
3
2022 Trafficking in Persons Report, U.S. Department of State, 19 July 2022, www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/337308-2022-TIP-REPORT-inaccessible.pdf.
4
List of Goods Produced by Child or Forced Labor. Bureau of International Labor Affairs, 28 September 2022, www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/reports/child-labor/list-of-goods?tid=All&field_exp_good_target_id=5758&field_exp_exploitation_type_target_id_1=All&items_per_page=10.
5
Amon, J. ‘National Cashew Day more than nuts,’ Human Rights Watch, 3 October 2011, www.hrw.org/news/2011/10/03/national-cashew-day-more-nuts.
6
‘Cracking the nut: Understanding labour abuses in Vietnam’s cashew industry.’ Ethical Trading Initiative, 4 December 2018, www.ethicaltrade.org/blog/cracking-nut-understanding-labour-abuses-vietnams-cashew-industry.
7
‘Cracking the nut: Understanding labour abuses in Vietnam’s cashew industry.’ Ethical Trading Initiative, 4 December 2018, www.ethicaltrade.org/blog/cracking-nut-understanding-labour-abuses-vietnams-cashew-industry.
8
‘Cracking the nut: Understanding labour abuses in Vietnam’s cashew industry.’ Ethical Trading Initiative, 4 December 2018, www.ethicaltrade.org/blog/cracking-nut-understanding-labour-abuses-vietnams-cashew-industry.
9
EU Action Needed for Fair Supermarket Supply Chains. SOMO, June 2014, www.somo.nl/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/EU-action-needed-for-fair-supermarket-supply-chains-1.pdf.
10
EU Action Needed for Fair Supermarket Supply Chains. SOMO, June 2014, www.somo.nl/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/EU-action-needed-for-fair-supermarket-supply-chains-1.pdf.
11
Turner, E. ‘Poverty Among Workers in The Cashew Industry,’ The Borgen Project, 19 July 2019, borgenproject.org/poverty-among-workers-in-the-cashew-industry/.
12
EU Action Needed for Fair Supermarket Supply Chains. SOMO, June 2014, www.somo.nl/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/EU-action-needed-for-fair-supermarket-supply-chains-1.pdf : Cashing in on Cashews: How EU supermarkets drive exploitation of cashew workers in India. Traidcraft, 2013, static1.squarespace.com/static/59242ebc03596e804886c7f4/t/59f3136f53450aa9d1475e08/1509102449357/Cashing+in+on+cashews.pdf.
13
Decent Work, A Tough Nut to Crack? A Market System Analysis of The Cashew Processing Industry in Mozambique. International Labour Organisation, May 2018, www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—ed_emp/documents/publication/wcms_647051.pdf.
14
Cashing in on Cashews: How EU supermarkets drive exploitation of cashew workers in India. Traidcraft, 2013, static1.squarespace.com/static/59242ebc03596e804886c7f4/t/59f3136f53450aa9d1475e08/1509102449357/Cashing+in+on+cashews.pdf.
15
Cashing in on Cashews: How EU supermarkets drive exploitation of cashew workers in India. Traidcraft, 2013, static1.squarespace.com/static/59242ebc03596e804886c7f4/t/59f3136f53450aa9d1475e08/1509102449357/Cashing+in+on+cashews.pdf.
16
Analysis of the Cashew Sector Value Chain in Côte d’Ivoire. African Cashew initiative (ACi), April 2010, gatesopenresearch.org/documents/3-743/pdf.
17
Cashew Processing. Global Cashew Council, www.cashews.org/cashew-industry/processing/.
18
Cashew Processing. Global Cashew Council, www.cashews.org/cashew-industry/processing/.
19
Cracking the Nut: Traceability and Sustainability by Local Processing. FairMatch Support, www.fairmatchsupport.nl/projects/cracking-the-nut-traceability-and-sustainability-by-local-processing/; Prospects for Cambodia’s Cashew Sub-sector. International Finance Corporation, European Union, 2010, https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/389621468214795797/pdf/603680NWP0KH0C10BOX358315B01PUBLIC1.pdf.
20
Cashing in on Cashews: How EU supermarkets drive exploitation of cashew workers in India. Traidcraft, 2013, static1.squarespace.com/static/59242ebc03596e804886c7f4/t/59f3136f53450aa9d1475e08/1509102449357/Cashing+in+on+cashews.pdf.
21
Cashing in on Cashews: How EU supermarkets drive exploitation of cashew workers in India. Traidcraft, 2013, static1.squarespace.com/static/59242ebc03596e804886c7f4/t/59f3136f53450aa9d1475e08/1509102449357/Cashing+in+on+cashews.pdf.
22
Cashing in on Cashews: How EU supermarkets drive exploitation of cashew workers in India. Traidcraft, 2013, static1.squarespace.com/static/59242ebc03596e804886c7f4/t/59f3136f53450aa9d1475e08/1509102449357/Cashing+in+on+cashews.pdf.
23
Cashing in on Cashews: How EU supermarkets drive exploitation of cashew workers in India. Traidcraft, 2013, static1.squarespace.com/static/59242ebc03596e804886c7f4/t/59f3136f53450aa9d1475e08/1509102449357/Cashing+in+on+cashews.pdf.
24
“Cashews are Delicious, but Come with a Human Cost.” Impact International, 2 November 2019, https://impactpolicies.org/news/69/Cashews-are-Delicious-but-Come-with-a-Human-Cost.
25
“Cashews are Delicious, but Come with a Human Cost.” Impact International, 2 November 2019, https://impactpolicies.org/news/69/Cashews-are-Delicious-but-Come-with-a-Human-Cost.
26
Commodities at a Glance: Special issue on cashew nuts, UNCTAD, April 2021, https://unctad.org/publication/commodities-glance-special-issue-cashew-nuts.
27
Decent Work, A Tough Nut to Crack? A Market System Analysis of The Cashew Processing Industry in Mozambique. International Labour Organisation, May 2018, www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—ed_emp/documents/publication/wcms_647051.pdf.
28
Cashing in on Cashews: How EU Supermarkets Drive Exploitation of Cashew Workers in India. Traidcraft, 2013, static1.squarespace.com/static/59242ebc03596e804886c7f4/t/59f3136f53450aa9d1475e08/1509102449357/Cashing+in+on+cashews.pdf.
29
Decent Work, A Tough Nut to Crack? A Market System Analysis of The Cashew Processing Industry in Mozambique, International Labour Organisation, May 2018, www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—ed_emp/documents/publication/wcms_647051.pdf.
30
Cashing in on Cashews: How EU supermarkets drive exploitation of cashew workers in India. Traidcraft, 2013, static1.squarespace.com/static/59242ebc03596e804886c7f4/t/59f3136f53450aa9d1475e08/1509102449357/Cashing+in+on+cashews.pdf.
31
Cashews are Delicious, but Come with a Human Cost. Impact International, 2 November 2019, https://impactpolicies.org/news/69/Cashews-are-Delicious-but-Come-with-a-Human-Cost.
32
List of exporters for the selected product in 2021. 080131 Fresh or dried cashew nuts, in shell. ITC Trade Map, www.trademap.org/Country_SelProduct.aspx?nvpm=1%7c%7c%7c%7c%7c080131%7c%7c%7c6%7c1%7c1%7c2%7c1%7c1%7c2%7c1%7c%7c1. List of exporters for the selected product in 2021. 080132 Fresh or dried cashew nuts, shelled. ITC Trade Map, www.trademap.org/Country_SelProduct.aspx?nvpm=1%7c%7c%7c%7c%7c080132%7c%7c%7c6%7c1%7c1%7c2%7c1%7c1%7c2%7c1%7c1%7c1.
33
List of exporters for the selected product in 2021. 080132 Fresh or dried cashew nuts, shelled. ITC Trade Map, www.trademap.org/Country_SelProduct.aspx?nvpm=1%7c%7c%7c%7c%7c080132%7c%7c%7c6%7c1%7c1%7c2%7c1%7c1%7c2%7c1%7c1%7c1.
34
Crops and livestock products. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QCL.

Funding is provided by the United States Department of Labor under cooperative agreement number IL‐35805. 100 percent of the total costs of the project or program is financed with federal funds, for a total of USD 4,000,000. This material does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the United States Department of Labor, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the United States Government

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Supply Chain Characteristics that Impact Traceability

Traceability Takeaways

Nature of Labor Rights Risk/Vulnerable Workers

Features of Production and Supply Chain

Distribution of Labor Risk in Various Production Areas

Linked Upstream and Downstream Risks

Risk in Nodes in Cashew Production

Associated Downstream Goods and Consumer Sectors

Top Global Exporting Countries:

Fresh or dried cashew nuts, in shell

Fresh or dried cashew nuts, shelled

Cashew nuts, with shell

Examples & Resources: Traceability Efforts Associated With Cashews

Footnotes