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Nigeria’s cashew exports has risen to about $250 million (N50 billion) annually, according to the National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN).

Speaking during an annual cashew logistics meeting on Tuesday, Tola Faseru, NCAN president, said Nigeria currently exports 180,000 metric tonnes of cashew nuts annually and the country plans to raise production to 500,000 metric tonnes worth $700 million by 2020.

“The crop has been earmarked as one of the five agro-industrial products among 13 products for diversification and it accounts for 200,000 jobs,” Faseru said.

According to Faseru, over 85 percent of Nigeria’s cashew nuts are exported to Vietnam, India, and other Asian countries.

“Cashew is Nigeria’s second largest non-oil foreign exchange earner,” Faseru said.

In February, NCAN signed a N1 billion ($5.02 million) deal with major shipping companies in Nigeria to facilitate the export of cashew nuts.

Chibuike Oguh is Financial Nigeria's Frontier Markets Analyst