Water and Fertilizer

Cashews grow best in sandy soils, but sandy soils don't hold much water and are generally not very fertile. The trees will still do fine without additional attention.

However, if a good crop is important to you (read: if you want to grow them commercially) then you need to supply your cashew trees with additional water and fertilizer. 

Irrigate during dry periods, and fertilize the trees when they actively grow, as well as during flowering and nut development. (They will mainly need nitrogen and phosphorus, and possibly zinc.)

Harvesting Cashews

Cashew trees flower and set fruit during the dry season (winter), and you should be able to pick them within a couple of months.

The fruit in the picture is ready to harvest. (As with all other fruit in my garden, a beak shaped hole is the sign that it needs picking, ready or not....)

If you don't have birds dictating your harvest times use these signs: the apple has a nice pink or red color (some are yellow) and the shell of the nut turns a dull grey. When the fruit falls to the ground it's definitely ready.

Separate the cashew apple from the nut, and enjoy the apple. Luckily the nuts keep very well inside their shells. You can store them for two years so you don't have to process every batch you pick. Keep them somewhere cool and dry until you have enough to justify the effort of processing them.

Cashew juice is poisonous when mix with milk or it can be risky to drink milk after eating cashew  fruit and therefore a period at least  two hours should be given after the eating cashew fruit or vice verse.

Processing Cashews

You can't just shell and eat cashew nuts like other nuts. Their shell is full of a horrible, caustic liquid that will burn holes into you!

The challenge is to separate the nut from the shell without getting the stuff on your skin, or worse, into your eyes.

One method is to freeze the shells, and then separate the shell from the nut before it thaws. 

You still need gloves and long clothes and I'd also use safety glasses, just in case. The nuts can be eaten raw, but please, please make sure they are not contaminated with any of that liquid!

The roasting method requires oil, and a clear mask and long gloves and sleeves and pants and an apron...

Heat the oil to 210°C and then drop the nuts into it for two minutes. No longer or they will become too brittle. Be careful when putting the nuts in because they will squirt that liquid at you as they hiss and jump in the oil...

When they are ready cool them in a bucket of water, get them out of the shell, and dry them. Yum. (Or so I'm told. I have to admit that I haven't tried that method yet...)

Another roasting method is to heat the nuts for a minute in an open pan with holes (so the caustic liquid can drain away). I think you are supposed to do that over an open fire. Don't breathe in the fumes, and if the nuts catch fire douse them with water... After the roasting you have to put the nuts into sawdust or something absorbent to remove the last of the caustic liquid.

After roasting and drying you can finally shell your cashew nuts.

Sounds interesting,isn't it?

Good luck, and don't despair if you end up with only a few edible nuts the first time around. I'm told it takes some practice. I should probably start practicing or I'll never learn it...

Edit - Delete Show Media Item - Gambia’s cashewnut production will rise to 5,000 metric tons by 2010 - ACA Gambia boss Gambia’s cashew nut production will rise from 10,000 metric  to 15,000 tons by the end of 2012 -say ACA Gambia boss.   Ram Mohan, head of the African Cashew Alliance for the Gambia National Committee, has disclosed that The Gambia’s raw cashew nut production is expected to increase up between ten thousand to fifteen thousand (1000--15000) metric tons  by the end of cashew nut season 2012.  He disclose this report during the recent concluded workshop on the importance of cashew nut production to the cashew nut farmers at the Baobab hotel in the Gambia. ACA is a major industry body that promotes the African cashew sector from production to consumption, and  aims at helping the cashew stakeholders to capitalize on the sector’s potential for economic growth and employment.  The US embassy representative to The Gambia,  told the participants that the US Department of State for Agriculture along with IRD, funded the demonetization project to support capacity building in the cashew sector.  Since then, he went on, IRD has been providing training for farmers with the goal of maximizing the income and capacity of 50,000 cashew farmers and their families, indirectly benefiting an estimated 350,000 people. “To stress the United States government’s efforts to continue in supporting this rapidly growing crop in Africa, USAID has recently given the ACA U$146,000 to improve access to finance for cashew businesses in the region,” he added.  Other participants highlighted some of the constraints that they encountered in cashew nut production and farming that includes lack of fencing for young cashew farm  plantation ,cutting immature cashew fruit or nut by some illegal dealers and lack of storage facility with bush fire are their main problems.  The Gambia cashew nut farmers pledge to share their knowledge with prospect cashew farmers the benefit of the cashew farming both for cash and food security How To Grow Cashew Trees, Nuts And Apples Growing cashews is the easy part. Cashew trees grow like weeds. Roasting cashews, now there's a challenge... what do cashew plants look like and how and where do cashew trees grow? What Do Cashew Plants Look Like?    cashew tree Cashew trees are attractive trees with large leaves and pretty, pink flowers.   Cashews, as you know them, are nuts. But the cashew nut is not the only fruit of the cashew trees. Or rather, the cashew nut is only a part of the cashew fruit. The other part is called the cashew apple. (Although pear would suit it much better...) And if I wanted to be super accurate then I'd have to point out that the cashew apple is actually the swollen stem of the fruit. Anyway, you can see some ripe cashew apples in the picture. The cashew apple looks very attractive with its red cheeks. It's high in Vitamin C, refreshing, very juicy, but a bit acidic. And it leaves a furry feeling in your mouth... I use it together with other fruit in juices or blended into fruit yogurt etc. It's also very nice when dried. In fact, I grow cashew trees more for the apples than for the nuts... The cashew nut is inside the funny looking, kidney shaped shell that is attached to the bottom of the cashew apple. Also inside that shell is a very nasty, caustic liquid that causes severe burns, so be careful when handling it. More on processing and shelling cashews later. Where Can You Grow Cashew Trees? You can grow cashew trees anywhere in the wet/dry tropics. The main producers of cashew nuts are Brazil, India, Vietnam, Africa (Tanzania and Mozambique) and South East Asia. Day temperatures for growing cashews should not drop below 10°C (50F), and cashew trees handle temperatures above 40°C (105F) well. An average day temperature of around 25°C (77F) is ideal. As long as they have some water cashew trees grow like weeds. They are fairly draught resistant and grow well even on marginal soils where other fruit trees would fail. The best soils for growing cashews are sandy soils. Growing Cashew Trees Wild birds and bats are attracted to cashew apples. Especially the fruit bats carry them off and drop the left overs, and that's how I ended up with cashew trees in my garden. I didn't plant them, the bats did. The cashew tree in the picture is on the very edge of my garden. It doesn't get much water, it never saw any fertilizer, and it's as healthy as they come. It's three years old and it's fruiting. (Grafted cashew trees can fruit within 18 months!) What can I say, in my experience growing cashews is super easy... However, since not everybody has bats to plant their cashew trees for them... How To Plant Cashew Trees Fresh seeds germinate readily, so if you know of a cashew tree in your area, or have another way of getting hold of fresh seeds (that's the whole thing, shell and all, not just the nut!), you can grow cashew trees from seed. But be aware that cashew seeds don't grow true to type, meaning, the plant you get is not identical to the parent. (It may not fruit as much or taste as nice.) Some fruit tree nurseries stock seedling or grafted trees. Commercial growers usually propagate their own. If you have a grower in the area you may be able to buy stock of him. If you want to grow your cashew trees from seeds you can start them in pots or put them straight in the ground. Keep them moist and they should sprout within four or five days. Best planting time? When you can get hold of fresh seed. The sooner you plant it, the better. Select a well drained spot (cashew trees don't like wet feet or heavy clay soils), preferably a place that has some protection from strong winds. Mature trees need about 10 metres distance between them, and they grow to 12 metres tall.

M AIMS AND OBJECTIVE OF BECOMING AN ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST IN THE GAMBIA

MY FIRST GOAL IS TO SEE GAMBIA BECOME FOOD SELF SUFFICIENCY

1.Food Security

The Environmental and Resource Management sector aims to increase food production by using new techniques for growing greater quantities and varieties of crops.

n      Cashew trees are growing in popularity but still a widely under-utilized resource. If planted correctly, they can be used as windbreaks, firebreaks, or live fence posts.

n      When planted on inclines, the cashew's root system can provide stability and prevent soil erosion.  Volunteers are working with associations and individual farmers to plant more trees and actively harvest those they already have.

Cashew nuts and fruits can be harvested for income generation. They can be sold locally or exported to Senegal. Volunteers work with community partners on methods of processing the cashew nuts. 

From the fruit, cashew butter and jam are easy to make on the local level, and they can be dried and sold as well.

1. 
   

          

  cashew fruit yet to be harvested

BACKGROUND OVERVIEW OF AFRICA’S SHARE OF GLOBAL DRY LAND

The Gambia Government Has Attached Great Important To Tree Planting As The Only Way To Save The Mankind.                                                    

Tree planting competition organises by President Jammeh among schools and communites annually with prizes
Drylands (arid, semi arid and hyper-arid areas in which annual evapotranspiration exceeds

rainfall and in which agricultural productivity is limited by poor availability of moisture)

occur throughout the world. They comprise not less than 40% of the global surface landmass

(6.4 billion ha) and are found in about 100 countries the world over. They are home to about

1.2 billion people and 350 000 plant species, of which 3000 are known to be useful to

mankind.

In Africa, drylands cover 1.96 billion ha in 25 countries (65% of continental landmass). More

than 30% of the world’s drylands are found in Africa. Nearly 400 million Africans live in the

arid and semiarid lands of the continent.

With the dryland population increasing at the rate of

3% a year, the natural resources of Africa’s drylands must feed an additional 12 million

people every year; this is despite degradation of the dryland natural resource base.

In Western and Eastern Africa, the arid and semiarid lands (ASALs) occupy significant

landmasses: 18% The Gambia, 65% Mali, 35%Senegal, 90%Mauritania, 70%Niger ,50%Burkina Fasso, and 40% Nigeria,75% of Kenya, 50% of Ethiopia and Tanzania, 80% of Somalia ,30% of Uganda and 20% of

Rwanda.
The total dryland area in Eastern Africa is 5 083 000 km2 (i.e. 81% of the total

surface area); in West Africa, the figure is 3,986 000 km2.(74%  of the total land masses) 

In addition, the Sahel and horn of Africa population

is typically impoverished, with well over half of ASAL population living below the poverty

line. The prevailing production systems are pure pastoralism, agropastoralism and irrigated

agriculture.

THE PHOTO SHOWS HOW  SEMI ARID OR SAHEL COUNTRIES LOOK LIKE AND ONLY TREE PLANTING  EXERCISE CAN SLOVE THE PROBLEM.

1

Agenda 21, the blueprint for action into the 21st century adopted by world leaders meeting at

the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, where the  former Gambian president Sir Dawda Jawara identifies agroforestry as one way of rehabilitating the degraded drylands of the world.

The present Gambian leader Yahya AJJ Jammeh have further embarked on more initiative towards fighting issues affecting environment and climate change and agroforestry is one of several approaches for improving land use, is also
frequently invoked as an answer to shortages of fuelwood, cash income, animal fodder and building materials in sub-Saharan Africa (Rocheleau et al. 1988.

Environmental problems in the drylands of West Africa: a

diagnosis.

The spiral of environmental degradation facing WestAfrica (WA) drylands is mainly

anthropogenic in nature and origin. However, for convenience, the causes of degradation can

be classified into demographic failure (phenomenal population growth caused by advances in

medical sciences); information failure; market failure (with respect to mainly the livestock

economy); institutional failure (very weak/moribund institutional environment); and

educational failure.

Land degradation and desertification

Desertification can be defined as land degradation in arid, semiarid and dry sub-humid areas

resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities [UN

definition]. Land degradation, on the other hand, can be defined as “the aggregate diminution

of the productive potential of the land, including its major uses (rainfed, arable, irrigated,

rangeland, forest), its farming systems (e.g. small holder subsistence) and its value as

economic resource” (Stocking and Murnaghan 2001). However, the two meanings may be

used interchangeably.

There are two main culprits in the desertification debate: human factors and climatic

influences. Climate variability and climate change has been identified as the natural factors

that have contributed to the enhanced pace of desertification in the Semi and Sahel regions of West Africa. Rainfall is variable in both time and space, leading to droughts and famines .
Droughts, which may bedefined as persistent below-normal precipitation that lead to mass exodus of people ,

herds, forcing pastoralists to migrate to relatively better-watered areas.

In the process,

overgrazing of the meagre remaining vegetation cover takes place, resulting in even more

land degradation. In the areas where the herds are now concentrated, new forms of land

degradation take place, especially around watercourses and water bodies such as rivers,

boreholes, water pans, etc.

The photo shows normadic or pastoral families moving to areas where they can find water bodies and pastures for their animals.

Temperature, as an element of climate, also contributes to land

degradation through its attribute of variability and occasionally by its extreme values. The

impact of temperature is exacerbated by the influence of global warming. Drylands are

important ‘carbon sinks’, and land degradation and desertification may be contributing to

increase in the emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. These emissions are

attributable to soil disturbances, fires/burning for range regeneration, land-use changes,

biomass degradation e.g. by enhancing soil microbial activities as well as usage of tree

resources for meeting energy requirements/needs. Global warming may affect water balance

in drylands, reducing moisture availability for plant growth and development.

The photo shows the effect of global warming and only the tree planting can save mankind natural calamities.


Wind is

2

another important culprit of land degradation and desertification. It is a powerful adjunct to

human activities, more so when removal of woody and herbaceous cover/biomass has been

effected. It is very apparent in areas with loose surface soils or previously eroded soils. The

WA drylands are particularly prone to the violent khamsin winds, which result in soil erosion

on a large scale.

However, land degradation owing to natural factors is usually in tandem with the regenerative

capacities of the land. Visible degradation usually occurs when negative human activities

become supplemental to the natural factors. This usually results in accelerated pace of land

degradation, resulting in desertification at the extreme end. Oftentimes, irreversible land

degradation occurs; other times, it can only be reversible through massive infusion/injection

of capital and labour. The human activities include overgrazing, over-cultivation, inefficient

irrigation systems that do not correspond with soil water requirements and deforestation as

well as industrial pollution [on a limited scale]. Other drivers of land degradation are

population increases (including enhanced in-migration).

The combined effect of human and climatic factors of land degradation has been a reduction

in the production of arid and semiarid lands in addition to the reduction in the quality of the

environment due to biophysical loss of resources.

Increasing human population

There has been phenomenal growth in the number of people living in EA drylands. This

growth is attributable to both advances in medical sciences as well as significant in-migration

into drylands from higher potential land due to over-stretching of the agricultural and land

resources in those areas. The increased population occurs within the context of static or even

contracting natural resource base.

Seeking the all-important fuelwood: an increasing human population eking out livelihood on a

contracting natural resource base.

3

Increased conversion of dry-season grazing reserves into other

land uses

There has been a recent trend towards conversion of traditional dry-season grazing reserves

into other land uses. For instance, some dry-season grazing areas of the Maasai and the Boran

have been expropriated by the State in Kenya as protected land (national parks and game

reserves). The result is the inability of the pastoralists and their herds to access these sites,

which are especially important during the dry seasons. Additionally, there have also been

localized land-use changes: farmers have occupied a major livestock migratory corridor along

the Tana transect in Garissa District, Kenya, denying access to the river for herdsmen and

sometimes causing violent conflicts.

A goat browsing a tree (left). The area is degraded, and there is sparse groundcover. Multiple-use trees

such as Baobab (right) may be the panacea to this kind of degradation.

Increased land privatization

In some parts of the eastern Africa region, such as Kenya and Tanzania, land adjudication has

been carried out in some parts of the drylands. This process has been well advanced in the

higher potential rangelands, shutting out the drier parts. The primary motive for this move

towards individualization of land ownership was to give incentives for natural resource

conservation. However, this has resulted in unforeseen problems. Firstly, this policy has

meant that pressure could be taken off the arable parts of the drylands, where population

growth had been phenomenal, so that landless farmers from the arable areas could venture

into marginal areas, where hitherto insignificant farming was taking place. The result has

been reduced returns on agricultural investment for the marginal farmers and environmental

problems in the farmed areas. Secondly, the land adjudication process has been followed by

4