Mighty Earth is an environmental advocacy organization that investigates and campaigns against destructive industrial practices. This text focuses specifically on their analysis of the cashew industry in Côte d'Ivoire, the world's top producer of raw cashew nuts.
The organization documents how cashew cultivation has expanded rapidly over 40 years to meet global demand, now occupying approximately 1.6 million hectares in northern Côte d'Ivoire—an area nearly the size of Hawaii. This expansion has caused significant environmental damage, including deforestation of native dry forests (up to 25% loss in some areas within four years), biodiversity loss threatening protected areas like Comoé National Park (a UNESCO World Heritage site home to critically endangered Western Chimpanzees), and pesticide pollution contaminating soils and groundwater.
Socioeconomic impacts include a 'boom to bust' cycle where oversupply depresses prices, food insecurity as farmers shift from traditional food crops to cashew monoculture, and hazardous working conditions where workers (primarily women) suffer caustic burns from processing nuts without protective equipment.
Mighty Earth provides recommendations for creating a sustainable cashew industry, including implementing traceability systems, halting expansion into native ecosystems, diversifying crops and incomes for small farmers, restoring forests, funding sustainable farming research, and banning imports linked to deforestation in major consumer markets like the US and EU.