Noble cashews

Using Cashews to remediate degraded lands, increase farmers income, reduce carbon footprint and improve gender parity.

a) We work with Smallholder cashew farmers by purchasing their raw cashew nuts at a fair trade price  and then in addition we also buy the spoilt raw cashews nuts from the farmers which we use as biofuels for processing, this leads to additional income to Smallholder cashew farmers
b)We then process the raw cashew nuts into flavoured and nutritious edible nuts. This processing is done using eco-friendly production process and carbon neutral technology, as we use the leftover cashew nuts shell and spoilt raw cashews as biofuel for processing. We also supply businesses in the informal sector with the leftover cashew nuts shell which they use as clean fuel to power their businesses
c)a percentage gotten from the sales of the edible cashew nuts is used for remediating Degraded lands through planting of cashew trees in erosion prone areas and degraded lands. The cashew trees remediate degraded lands because of their unique ability to grow and fruit fast with limited water and manure, its leaves and branches provide excellent shade for soil cover, moisture retention and serves as a wind breaker. All of which makes this tree an efficiently excellent friend for reviving ecosystems and combating desertification and drought. 

1. Land Degradation:-  75% of Earth's land are degraded according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), land degradation affects almost 2billion hectares of land worldwide, which is home to about 1.5billion people. It is estimated that as of 2019, 40million lives have been affected in Nigeria alone due to land degradation. Land degradation in Nigeria is caused mainly by deforestation, erosion and mono-cropping. Land degradation makes the soil more unsuitable for farming as a result leads to poor yields  which leads to hunger.

2. Poverty amongst Smallholder cashew farmers:-
According to the 2019 report by Nigerian Cashew Association of Nigeria(NCAN),Eighty-five percent(85%)of cashews planted and Harvested are traditionally sold off at an extremely low price for Processing mainly in India and Vietnam this is done via middlemen, Who buy from Smallholder farmers at a cheap price and sell it to Indian buyers at a high price as a result most farmers are left to survive with little or low income

Communities with degraded lands

Land Degradation affects the lives of 40 million people in Nigeria alone. As of 2015, more than 35% of lands in Nigeria are affected by Land Degradation, and this numbers keep increasing. The Land Degredation leads to infertile lands which means difficulty in planting for smallholder farmers, which results in less yield which makes the farmers poor.

   Our initial plan is to plant a 1000 cashew trees in the next three years in erosion-prone areas and degraded lands. This we will achieve through partnership with Smallholder Farmers and tree-planting organizations like Onebilliontreesforafrica. Cashew trees have track record of remediating Degraded and combatting erosion. This is because of some of the unique properties like it's ability to grow and fruit fast with limited moisture,it's wind breaking properties,as well as it's tap roots. 

Smallholder cashew farmers

We help Smallholder cashew farmers by purchasing cashews at  fair-trade  prices and processing the  cashews locally, we  aim to protect local farmers from the fluctuations by sharing with the  farmers the value captured and excluding in-between traders and middle men from the supply chain.  We also assist farmers in augmenting their income by introducing alternative income-generation activities such as encouraging the planting of crops like corn, this will encourage inter-cropping, which will make them earn more income and also  help remediate degraded lands by allowing them to plant other crops along with cashews which  also contributes to remediation of degraded lands.

1. Communities with degraded lands:- When we started noticing the adverse effects of desertification ,we analyzed the suitation and next action we took was to reach out to a tree-planting Organizations, Known as onebilliontreesforafrica(http://onebilliontreesforafric...) . They had better understanding of the effect of land degradation as they had planted more than 7,000  different trees in degraded lands. We discussed with them about the importance of planting Cashew trees and they agreed to work with us,and together with them we go to communities plaqued with land degradation and gain more information from the residents about the adverse effects of land degradation. We proposed our desired solution to the residents and they were delighted.

2. Smallholder cashew farmers:- First and foremost, in order to have a better understanding of the plight of Smallholder cashew farmers and also to provide a customer centric service. We went  to oku community in Kogi state,and we decided to interview about 10 smallholder cashew farmers. This made us to understand the farmers, and it has has helped us in developing solution that will benefit the farmers and also benefit us.

3. Cashew nuts consumers:- To test our products with customers, we decided to create an MVP of our products so as to sell to our customers. The response was encouraging as within 3hrs,60 packs of our products was sold. We also noticed that consumers prefer the cashew nuts mixes( cashew nuts- -groundnut -popcorn mix)

1. For Smallholder cashew farmers:- At the moment we have registered two smallholder cashew farmers and we are currently working with them and we are  planting cashew trees together  with the aid of the tree-planting Organizations.

2. Tree Planting:- So far together with our partners we have planted 90 trees in oku community in Kogi state, and we have bought about 10 cashew trees from smallholder cashew farmers

3. Cashew nuts:- so far we have only tested our MVP, and we have taken positive feedbacks, due to financial constraints,we are yet to lauch a maiden product,but it is in our plans for 2022.

1.Biotechnology:-  Noble cashews do not  use fossil fuels to power the cashew nuts processing. We make use of leftover Cashew nuts shell which serve as biofuels to power the cashew nuts processing. In order to make use of the shells to  power production process, it has to pass through  gasification. Gasification is a process that converts the organic waste(leftover cashew nuts shell)into gases. This gases is combustible at higher temperatures, hence is more efficient and clean than the combustion of the fossil fuels. This process is extensively used to generate the electricity in varied industries. Leftover Cashew nuts shell which are biofuels are a promising option because the carbon dioxide (CO2) they emit is recycled through the atmosphere, hence making our production process carbon-neutral and as well eco-friendly.

2. Ancestral technology:-  I did my final year research on "Value addition of Cashews". It was when I discovered that cashew trees are traditionally planted to combat land degradation, this is because of the tree’s unique ability to grow and fruit fast with limited water and manure, its leaves and branches also provide  excellent shade for soil cover, moisture retention and serves as a wind breaker, it's leaves also  attract birds, hence their excretes provide manure to the soil. It's roots also hold soil to prevent erosion, conserve moisture, and reduce dryness which causes desertification. All of these qualities  makes this tree an effective for reviving ecosystems and combating desertification and drought. 

PRESENTLY

So far,we are serving two Smallholder cashew farmers and we are remediating degraded lands in a oku community in Nigeria. We have tested our MVP with 60 different customers and after getting required feedbacks,we plan on launching a product next year under a well defined brand.

IN THE NEXT YEAR

1. In the next year, we plan on working with 6 Smallholder cashew farmers.

2. We plan on remediating degraded lands by extending our cashew planting program in 3 communities.

3. We plan on launching two products under our brands. This product will be salt-roasted cashew nuts and cashew nuts-popcorn mix. This was considered after testing our minimum viable products with 60 customers.

NO POVERTY(SDG1)  DECENT WORK AND ECONOMIC GROWTH (SDG8)-  Noble Cashews will help alleviate property and promote decent growth by employing women from low-income households and supports local cashew farmers through fair-trade pricing and creating markets for new crops and agricultural products.

 ZERO HUNGER(SDG2):- Noble cashews supports farmers in diversifying their crops and engaging in income generating agricultural activities through inter-cropping of crops. For example, we will encourage farmers to plant crops like corn alongside cashews. This will help provide food which will lead to hunger reduction and as well help us in creating our product offering (which is cashew nuts and popcorn mix).

SDG 12  RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION  AND PRODUCTION :- Noble cashews ensures sustainable production patterns by promoting crop diversification and use of exclusively local ingredients. The Biochar which is a by-product of our production process is used as carbon fertilizers for soil regeneration.

SDG 13  CLIMATE ACTION:- we will not use fossil fuels to power ovens and steam cashews, we will use the leftover cashew nuts shell as biofuel to power production process and this will make our production process eco-friendly and carbon-neutral. We will also plant cashew trees in erosion-prone areas,this is to solve land degradation problems and as well help sequester carbon in the atmosphere.

1. Climate Action:- A single cashew tree sequesters at a rate of 34.6 pounds of carbon, reducing global warming and meeting global targets of 1.5oc. One thousand trees will sequester 34600 pounds of carbon. Hence reducing carbon emissions. So far we have planted 90 cashew trees, this will sequester 3114 pounds of carbon emissions. So our best indicators to measure our impact on climate is by the number of cashew trees we planted.
2. No Poverty:-  At the moment, our biggest indicators are the numbers of women employed by Noble Cashews and the number of smallholder cashew farmers we work with. The women are paid above the minimum wage in Nigeria and we created a tree ownership model, that allows the women to own 10 trees, this trees each  can produce cashew nuts worth $300. This trees will serve as assets to make the women richer. 
 For the smallholder cashew farmers, we purchase from them at fair trade prices as we boycott the middle men. We also encourage that the farmers intercrop with corn, This way we can buy the corn to produce our popcorn and cashew mix and hence increase income for the Smallholder cashew farmers.

1. Market barriers:- This is as a result of commodity Risks as a result of price fluctuations, poor yield of cashew nuts etc. In order to mitigate this risks, we plan on buying as much as possible, we will also plant Cashew trees in different communities that are at different locations, this is to prevent commodity Risks.

2. Financial Barriers:- Financial issues has been a big hindrance to our progress.So far, I have funded this project using my personal funds and I must confess,it has not been easy. Financial barriers have limited our progress and scale of impact.

3.Land issues:- Since our work involves planting of trees, which must be done on land. It is the biggest issue  because some don't want you to plant in their lands. In some cases they have to lease their lands for us, so that we can be able to plant there.

1.I am Musa Gabriel Junior, I am the CEO of FaGab Cashews.I grew up in a cashew farming community, with my grandfather being a cashew farmers, this gave me a slight knowledge of the cashew value chain and help me develop different techniques of processing raw cashew nuts. I also studied Chemical Engineering in my undergraduate, and I did my final year research project on the topic “value addition of cashew nuts”. It was during my research project, I perfected the circular model of processing raw cashew nuts. I had also gone for two accelerator programs, this increase my knowledge of social entrepreneurship. I also co-founded a food processing company Known as G&G foods which specializes in converting beans to beans flour. It was a successful business until the pandemic came in 2020. I am also taking courses on climate change, so that we can innovate and propose better ways to mitigate climate change. I will also love to learn more from this accelerator program.

2. Daniel Segun:-He is one of the best processors of cashew nuts I have ever seen. He has roasted cashew nuts for eight years of his life. He usually helps his mum who is a cashew seller. He has developed new flavors raw cashew nuts that are not in the market yet. He developed our prototype product and the response of customers was very encouraging

Onebilliontreesforafrica:- onebilliontreesforafrica is a tree-planting Organizations that is interested in solving land degradation problems in Africa. So far it has planted thousand of climate resilient trees in Africa. We partnered with them, so that they can help us in planting cashew trees in erosion prone areas since they have expertise in tree-planting . In return,they expect a donation from us,with a promise that we will buy the raw cashew nuts from the farmers after harvest.

2. Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria.( CRIN):- CRIN is an institute that conduct research on mainly cash crops like cocoa, cashews,tea, kola etc. So as to produce improved variety of those seeds. We will partner with them so that they can provide us access with improved variety of seeds, which we will plant in erosion prone areas. This seeds will produce better yield and germinate faster than ordinary Cashew nuts seeds.

In our business,in order to empower Communities financially, we plan on executing a tree planting and tree ownership model, this means we plant cashew trees in lands  and this trees are owned by farmers and residents of a community. This trees will serve as assets for the owners of this trees, in cashew harvest seasons, this trees can produce up to 100 pounds of raw cashew nuts worth about a $200, five trees( which is the allowable number of trees to be owned) will give $1000. 

The reason we came up with this model is that we have noticed that most of the cashew trees in cashew farming communities are largely owned by men who sell most of their harvested cashew nuts to middle men for export to India and Vietnam. So only a little are left for the women to process into flavoured edible nuts, hence practically excluding women from the most important part of the value chain. Our business seeks to allow women to be owners of at least 5 cashew trees, by teaching them how to tend for the cashew trees and later buy  from them at a fair trade price during harvest seasons, thereby empowering women financially.

From our research,we have noticed that most women in the cashew farming community are excellent in processing the cashew nuts into flavoured cashew nuts,hence our workforce will be by estimation 80% women.

  Pozen social innovation prize will help us with the required funds  to plant cashew trees that will be owned by women and also will serve as assets for this women. The sales of this cashew nuts alone during it's  harvest can take them way  above the poverty level of $1.25 per day.