Moringa SICAR, a €84m investment vehicle for agroforestry projects with high environmental and social impacts, has invested an undisclosed amount in Tolaro Global, a cashew kernels processor and exporter in Benin.

Created in 2008, Tolaro has processed 2,500 tons of raw cashew nuts in 2016 in its processing facility in Parakou, centre Benin. 

The company mainly targets the sustainable cashew premium market in the US and Europe, and is partner of prestigious offtakers (Intersnack, PepsiCo, etc.). 

Tolaro is working with 7,000 farmers, giving support to 2,500 of them through outgrowing programs and has recently obtained both Fair Trade and Organic certifications.

Hervé Bourguignon, Managing Partner of Moringa, said: “Cashew is a promising $5bn market. Its annual growth rate in volume reached 10% for more than 10 years now. This phenomenon is due to the dynamic internal consumption in India, and in USA and Europe to the many advantages consumers seek in cashew: nutritional benefits, pleasure in snacking, natural food, quality and ease of consumption.”

Tolaro should thus become the first company in West Africa exporting 100% “made in Africa” end cashew products. 

“West Africa is the first producer of raw cashew nuts, but most of them are processed in Asia. With a vast producing area, a still underdeveloped agronomical potential and clear competitive advantages, the development of a local processing industry presents many opportunities. Benin’s cashew are famous and recognized for their better quality. Benin nuts are granted a premium: its cashews have sweeter taste and a clean white color,” said Bourguignon.

Clément Chenost, The Moringa Partnership Investment Director, added: “Tolaro is a great partner to develop these opportunities. It has progressively and carefully scaled-up, becoming milestone after milestone a respectful SME. It is considered as one of the best cashew company on the market regarding quality and sustainability issues.” 

“Cashew processing is a major opportunity to develop fairly the economy of West African countries. It is produced by smallholders in agroforestry systems combining cashew trees and food crops (sorgho, mil, maïze, etc.). It could thus play a key role to restore land and avoid desertification in the Sahelian region, while bringing a better livelihood to farmers,” he said.

According to Tolaro, the ambition of this new partnership with Moringa is to develop a world leader for the production of sustainable and ethical cashews. 

The primary processing capacity will be increased to 20,000 tons per year by 2021 and a salting/roasting unit will be set up. 

Support given to farmers will be strengthened, thanks to a partnership with USAID. 

Main impact objectives are to reach 30,000 farmers and create 1,900 additional jobs.

Jace Rabe and Serge Kponou, Managing Directors of Tolaro, said: “We are very excited about our new partnership with Moringa. This partnership will allow us to achieve our vision for the cashew industry in Benin. We believe that a well-developed cashew processing sector in West Africa can radically transform the region but it takes strategic partners like Moringa to help make that happen.”