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Cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) is one of the important tropical crops.The cashew tree is native of Brazil. It was discovered by the Portuguese and introduced in their African and Asian colonies. In the 16th century, Portuguese explorers took cashew trees from this South American country and introduced them into other tropical regions such as India and some African countries, where they are now also cultivated. The cashew tree has always been a prized resource owing to its precious wood, cashew balm and cashew apple, but the cashew nut itself did not gain popularity until the beginning of the 20th century. Today, the leading commercial producers of cashews are India, Brazil, Mozambique, Tanzania and Nigeria. Cashewnut processing is a very competitive but also a potentially lucrative activity that can and should be exploited by more small-scale processors.Cashew has the potential to increase the incomes of poor producers, to create employment opportunities during harvesting and processing and to increase exports.
