Mighty Earth is an environmental advocacy organization focused on exposing and addressing the negative impacts of cashew cultivation in Côte d'Ivoire. The organization highlights how the rapid expansion of cashew farming over the past 40 years has led to significant deforestation, with approximately 1.6 million hectares now dedicated to cashew plantations—an area nearly the size of Hawaii.
This agricultural expansion threatens unique dry forest ecosystems and protected areas like the UNESCO World Heritage site Comoé National Park, endangering wildlife including the critically endangered Western Chimpanzee. Mighty Earth also documents socio-economic issues: while cashew farming initially boosted rural incomes, it has created dependency, leading to food insecurity when prices collapse, as seen in early 2023.
The organization reports on hazardous working conditions, particularly for women manually de-shelling nuts who risk caustic burns from cashew oil without adequate protective equipment. Mighty Earth advocates for solutions including full traceability systems, halting expansion into native ecosystems, crop diversification for farmers, forest restoration, sustainable farming research, and import bans on deforestation-linked cashews in major consumer markets like the US and EU.