Chic African Culture Africa Factbook

Did you know?

1. No African country names begin with the letters F, H, I, J, O, P, Q, V, W, X, or Y.

2. Africa is surrounded by water but by definition Africa is not an island because Africa is a continent.

3. The Republic of the Congo is one of the most urbanized countries in Africa.

African cashew farmers positive and negative impacts

Toasted Cashews Recipe

Africa is the center of the cashew world, producing well over 40 percent of the world's cashew nuts.

Cashew plantations are owners and issues.

Cashew plantations are owned primarily by men in Africa, as women and migrants have difficulty obtaining access to land ownership. For most growers, work in the plantations is manual and involves the use of manual hand tools. 

Growers with large cashew plantations use animals to work the land, in rare cases heavy machinery; in all cases, family labor makes an important contribution. Most African cashew nuts are shipped raw and unprocessed directly to processing factories in Asia, where they are turned into kernels for the European, American and Asian markets. 

Cashew growing has a positive environmental impact in that it serves to protect, conserve and reconstitute the land. In Cote d’Ivore, Mozambique, Tanzania, Benin, Guinea Bissau, Togo, Burkina Faso and Nigeria, cashew trees are usually grown in areas that are suitable for growing cotton and yams. 

These two crops, cotton and yams more than any other, lead to soil deterioration, as the forests are cleared to make room for them and, in the case of cotton, they involve the massive use of pesticides. Cashew trees are ideal for rebuilding degraded land and for carbon footprint stability.

 
African street food vendor selling cashew nuts in Nigeria
African street food vendor selling cashew nuts in Nigeria

In Africa Cote d’Ivoire, Benin, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Tanzania, Togo, Burkina Faso and Nigeria grow cashew nuts on a commercial scale.

Issues growing cashews in Africa.

Cashew growing in Africa as it has positives therefore making the cashew nut an expensive undertaking. Recurring fires in the plantations, difficult regulation of the local market and price fixing as well as cashew growing and processing is labor intensive hard manual work. 

Cashew is a recurrent tree crop that starts to produce cashew nuts when the tree is about four years old. Coupled with not making profits from cashew plantations for the first few years, other issues are high export taxes, organizations of growers are insubstantial, partisan buying policies, there is a difficulty for women to access financing and credit and cashew exporters have a history of monopolizing the market. 

Civil war has devastated many African cashew- producing countries forcing farmers to abandon their cashew trees to move to safer places. Farmers are victims of a dramatic shift in the political upheaval brought often sudden and profound changes from conflict and poor governance.

 
Working on a cashew plantation in Guinea Bissau Africa

Working on a cashew plantation in Guinea Bissau Africa 

Toasted Cashews Recipe From Guinea Bissau Africa

African Recipes by African Gourmet

Prep time: 5 min 
Cook time: 10 min 
Total time: 15 min 

Ingredients 
1 cup unsalted cashew nuts 
1 tablespoon palm oil or vegetable oil 
1 teaspoon salt 
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes 

Directions 
Add oil to a heated frying pan and remaining ingredients mix well and lightly toast. Serve as a snack.



Together we build awareness that boost harmony, education, and success, below are more links to articles you will find thought provoking.

  1. Historical African Country Name
  2. Top 20 Largest Countries in Africa
  3. How many countries does Africa have?
  4. Roots of Africanized Christianity Spiritual Songs
  5. Chocolate Processing Facts History and Recipes
  6. Awesome Kenyan Woman
  7. Land is Not For Women in Sierra Leone
  8. African Kente Cloth Facts
  9. Accra the Ghanaian Capital Ultimate Mall Experience


Chic African Culture and The African Gourmet=

Africa is surrounded by water but is not an island, here are a few African Island facts.

Madagascar is the 4th large island in the world and is located in the Indian Ocean supporting a unique biology, about 90% of its plants and animals are found nowhere else on earth.

Composed of 155 islands, Seychelles is Africa's smallest country. By far the largest island is Mahe, home to about 90% of the population and the site of its capital city of Victoria.

Cabo Verde has a strategic location 310 miles or 500 km from the west coast of Africa near major north-south sea routes; important communications station; important sea and air refueling site.

Africa is surrounded by water but by definition Africa is not an island because Africa is a continent. Continents can not be considered islands because of their size and also by historic definition since many people who study geography define islands and continents as two different things.

This Week’s Best Posts and Pages

Using Amen and Ashe or Ase

What is the difference between ugali and fufu

How to make sweet Nigerian Agege bread

Africa’s smallest mountain

African cultures express, encourage, and communicate energy

Support African History and Culture

Chic African Culture and The African Gourmet are dedicated to discovering, collecting and sharing African history and heritage celebrating 14 years of service in 2021. Share and support in the pride of being part of an important cultural and educational resource.



Being African in America I have grown up learning about different ethnic cultures. My father and mother are historians of African culture and history and their influence expanded my activities to several best-selling cookbooks, magazine columns, self-branded products, and a popular African culture and food blog.

Chic African Culture


Be better than average and support African history and culture. Since 2008 Chic African Culture and The African Gourmet highlight Africa through her food and culture. Contact us culture1africangourmet@gmail.com

More LOVE from Africa to Read About