Mozambique expects to produce 160,000 tons of cashew nuts in 2024, an increase of more than 1.5% compared to this year's estimate, despite climate effects.

According to the Economic and Social Plan of the State Budget for next year, which will soon be debated in Parliament, this production is derived from 9,734,000 cashew trees, from 188,983 producers throughout the country.

"The volume of cashew nut production will increase from around 157,496 tons to around 160,000 tons in 2024," predicts the document, quoted by Lusa.

According to official data, in 2020, Mozambican cashew nut production was 139,945 tons and the following year 144,823 tons.

"Forecasts indicate that the year 2024 will be marked by the occurrence of the 'El Niño' phenomenon, which influences the climate in Mozambique, causing adverse weather phenomena, which may cause a shortage of rainfall in the south and center, and floods in the north of the country, with significant impacts on the agricultural sector," the government document also warns.

For much of the last century, Mozambique was the world's largest producer of cashew nuts and received the continent's first processing plant in 1960, an activity that went into decline after independence in 1975.

Currently, it is estimated that more than one million Mozambican families grow and sell cashews and the processing sector employs more than 8,000 people in the country.

In the first six months, Mozambique's cashew nut exports earned 53 million dollars, more than the whole of last year, making it the country's main agricultural product sold abroad.