A growing interest in plant-based diets and the use of nuts as dairy alternatives has put cashews in high demand. In Guinea-Bissau, this global demand is leading to the loss of wild plants that feed local people.
A high proportion of food in Norway is still imported.
Cashew nuts are just one of the increasingly popular foods that are not produced domestically.
A growing interest in plant-based diets and the use of cashews as a dairy alternative has put them in high demand – not just in Norway but across the world. The cost of meeting this demand, as is often the case, is mostly borne by people living in the areas the crops are produced. In this instance, Guinea-Bissau.
The rise of large-scale cashew farming in Guinea-Bissau has transformed local ecosystems and food habits — with implications for nutrition, cultural practices, and environmental sustainability in the small West African nation.
The cashew conundrum
Cashews have become a lifeline for farmers in Guinea-Bissau. Sprawling plantations devoted to cashew production have brought economic opportunities to rural communities. With this shift, however, there has been a sharp decline of diverse ecosystems that were once a source of wild edible plants.
These plants, long collected and consumed by rural households, are nutrient-rich and can contribute to varied diets in the region.
Yet, as the cashew plantations expand, wild plant species are disappearing, foraging practices are changing, and so too is their potential role in rural diets.
What’s the problem?
If business is booming like never before for local farmers in producing nations, you might ask: what is the problem?
As agricultural systems become increasingly focused on a small number of cash crops, the diversity of diets across the world is shrinking.
This has contributed to hidden hunger, where people consume enough calories but lack essential nutrients.
“Research worldwide has consistently shown that there is a global nutrition crisis, with more than half of the global population consuming inadequate levels of several micronutrients - which are essential to conduct a healthy life,” explains NMBU researcher Ana Leite.
“Guinea-Bissau is one of the least food-secure countries in the world and dietary diversity that incorporates important micronutrients is critically low.”
Changing landscapes and livelihoods
Leite’s research revealed that the diminished role of wild edible plants in Guinea-Bissau is due to several other factors beyond the loss of natural habitat for wild plants to cashew plantations.
Women, traditionally the primary gatherers of wild edible plants, now spend much of their time working in cashew orchards, leaving little opportunity to collect wild plants.
Also, local people increasingly rely on market-purchased goods, and wild plants are sometimes stigmatized as poor people’s food.
“Interestingly, the demand for some of these wild products is increasing in urban centres and cross-border markets,” explains Leite.
“This adds extra pressure to the environmental sustainability of the wild populations. In addition, whilst cashew farming is the most significant source of income, it ties farmers to a cash-based economy making these rural communities more vulnerable to shocks in the market economy.”
Why should I care?
Whilst Leite’s findings focus on Guinea-Bissau, they tell a broader story about the consequences of modern agriculture in the global food system.
As global demand for cash crops grows, the trade-offs between economic development and ecological and local health become increasingly stark. For consumers, this research is a reminder to think critically about the origins of your food and the systems that produce it.
“If we all decide to stop buying cashew nuts now, that wouldn’t help rural farmers in Guinea-Bissau either - but civil awareness is perhaps the first step towards necessary changes in current food systems,” says Leite.
fact box:
- According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the export of cashew nuts from producing countries in West Africa have increased by 700% over the past 20 years, and the cultivated area increased by 1.8 million hectares (estimates from 2022).
- Guinea-Bissau is the fifth largest cashew producer in West Africa
- Cashew trees in Guinea-Bissau grow in monoculture (single crop) systems. Their widespread plantation significantly transforms local landscapes.
Ana Catarina Mendes Leite will defend her doctoral thesis Feasting on the wild: the use of wild edible plants amid social-ecological change in the woodlands of Guinea-Bissau on 12 September at the Norwegian University of Life Science. See the event webpage for details on how to attend.