Playing the Market: How the Cashew “Commodityscape” Is Redefining Guinea‐Bissau's Countryside

Abstract

Guinea-Bissau's political ecology of the 1980s led to cashews overtaking all other exports as a generator of national revenue. Through ethnographic methodology, this paper examines the cashew commodityscape illustrated through an examination of several villages in southern Guinea-Bissau. This research addresses how household livelihood strategies are fashioned as a result of necessity, opportunity, and negotiations with local, regional, and global economies. A majority of the local population in the research site was involved in cashew pomiculture in 2007 when the global demand and purchase price was low. By 2010, the price paid by Indian wholesalers rebounded with even further integration of this commodity into the natural and cultural landscape. This paper finds that cashews are playing a significant role in the environmental, economic, and cultural spheres. This local articulation of a global phenomenon demonstrates the potential pitfalls and benefits of meeting very specific global needs. [Guinea-Bissau, Nalú, Balanta, cashews, commodityscape, pomiculture, livelihood] bs_bs_banner Culture, Agriculture, Food and Environment Vol. 34, Issue 1 pp. 33-52, ISSN 2153-9553, eISSN 2153-9561.

Rebuilding Tertiary Education in Guinea-Bissau: Can it be done?

“…Therefore, the issue or challenge that is proposed to be addressed is improving higher education and promoting scientific research to meet the demands of society and the economy. Guinea-Bissau's economy is based primarily on agriculture (i.e., cashews and rice), fishing, and resource extraction (i.e., timber and bauxite), all of which have dramatic effects on the populations' livelihoods and environments (Lundy 2012(Lundy , 2014. This in turn impacts the country's overall wellbeing.…”

New Records of Insect Pest Species Associated with Cashew,Anacardium occidentaleL. (Anacardiaceae), in Guinea-Bissau

“…In 2009 the crop already covered about 6.7 % (210 000 ha) of the territory, and was increasing at a rate of 4 % per year (Kyle 2009). Currently, cashew is by far the most important cash crop in Guinea-Bissau, representing the main source of income in rural areas and 90 % of the country's exports, overtaking peanuts, fish and timber (Boubacar-Sid et al 2007;Lundy 2012). It is mostly produced by small-scale farmers in monospecific orchards, but involves about 85 % of the population to a varying extent (Kyle 2009).…”

“…The species was introduced to distant regions such as India and East Africa as early as the 16th century (Malhotra 2008), and is now an important crop cultivated in tropical regions worldwide (Maruthadurai et al 2012). Cashew is generally grown for its fruit, which has two connected parts: (i) the kidney-shaped nut containing the nutritious edible kernel, and (ii) the false fruit or cashew apple (the fleshy edible stalk) which can be eaten raw, used to make jam, juiced or fermented into wine (Jaffee 1994;Asogwa et al 2008;Lundy 2012). The nut shell contains a corrosive liquid known as cashew nut shell liquid, which is widely used in automobile brake linings, paints, varnishes and insecticides, among others (Malhotra 2008).…”

“…It is mostly produced by small-scale farmers in monospecific orchards, but involves about 85 % of the population to a varying extent (Kyle 2009). In the last five years, cashew has also overtaken the primary staple food, rice, as the crop being grown in largest quantities, further highlighting its economic importance (Lundy 2012).…”

Determinants of Chinese FDI to Sub-Saharan Africa: a regional analysis and Guinea-Bissau case study

“…However, asAbrantes and Temudo (2013) report, Guinea-Bissau is often even struggling to provide enough agricultural output for its own needs, making it an unattractive FDI target for China in this regard.The only agricultural product Guinea-Bissau is currently able to export on a large scale is cashew nuts, a sector on which about 85% of the local population is dependent (United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS), 2016). While little overall investment exists in this industry whose exports mostly go to India(Lundy, 2012), media sources have recently reported of increased Chinese interest in establishing large-scale rice production in the country(Macau Daily Times, 2016). Although Chinese officials point to the lack of this mostly imported commodity on the local market and the ensuing consequences for domestic development, the possibility of a partial motivation lying in supply of the Chinese home market can at least not be ruled out.…”