Raw cashew nut drying systems in Togo
What the crop demands, what the country imposes, and what that means for capacity.
Togolese cashew is grown mainly in the Centrale and Kara regions and benefits, like everything else in the country, from Lomé being the natural deep-water port on this coast. The domestic crop is modest, but the port position means conditioning capacity here serves more nut than Togo grows.
The situation in Togo
Lomé is the only natural deep-water port on this stretch of coast and the country has built an export economy around it. Togo has also become the region’s organic soy specialist, with a certified chain that reaches European feed and food buyers directly — a genuinely unusual position for a country of eight million, and one that depends entirely on documented moisture control.
Growing regions. the Maritime and Plateaux regions in the south, Centrale and Kara further north
What raw cashew nut drying demands
Raw cashew nut is bought on outturn — the kernel yield a buyer can expect from a tonne of nut — and outturn is destroyed by moisture. Above 10 % the nut moulds in the bag on a six-week sea voyage; too dry and the kernel becomes brittle and breaks at shelling, which costs grade. The 8–10 % window is narrow and is worth several hundred dollars a tonne.
Harvest calendar
February to May, peaking in March, with the port a short haul from the growing areas.
The working campaign window as the trade runs it. It shifts a fortnight either way with the rains.
Process parameters
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Drying temperature | 45–55 °C |
| Final moisture | 8–10 % |
| Yield (fresh : dried) | 1.15 : 1 |
| Cycle time | 8–14 h |
Sizing starting points from ordinary processing practice, not a validated recipe for your product. Confirm against your own intake and your buyer’s specification.
Worked sizing example
For a unit taking 8 tonnes of fresh product a day, at a yield of 1.15 : 1:
Illustrative figures calculated from the yield and campaign window above. They size a conversation; they do not describe any existing installation.
Fuel available in Togo
Togo’s organic soy sector generates a growing volume of husk, consistent and easy to feed. Cashew shell in the Centrale region.
- Base load. Soybean husk · Cashew shell · Palm kernel shell
- Supplement. Shea cake and shell · Cotton stalk · Corn cob
See all 27 fuels and their properties
Market and buyer requirements
Raw nut export to Asia through Lomé, plus transit volume from Burkina and Niger. Buyers price on outturn and on moisture at loading.
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The systems that hold this profile
Other crops in Togo
Soybean · Shea · Pineapple · Maize
Raw cashew nut drying elsewhere
🇧🇫 Burkina Faso · 🇨🇮 Côte d'Ivoire · 🇬🇭 Ghana · 🇸🇳 Senegal · 🇧🇯 Benin
Frequently asked questions
Does Lomé change the cashew case?
Yes — it is the natural deep-water port on this coast, and a short haul from the Centrale and Kara growing areas. Conditioning to 8–10 % close to the port means the nut is at specification when it is loaded rather than when it left the farm.
Why does moisture at loading matter more than at harvest?
Because the six-week sea passage is where the damage happens. A nut at 8–10 % when the container closes arrives sound; the same nut at 12 % arrives mouldy, and the buyer pays on outturn at the destination rather than on condition at the farm gate.
What does 8 t/day produce?
About 7 tonnes a day of conditioned nut at roughly 1.15 : 1, on an 8 to 14 hour cycle at 45–55 °C. Across a ninety-day February-to-May season that is around 630 tonnes through one line, conditioned within a short haul of the quay at Lomé.
Size a unit in Togo
Tell us your daily fresh volume and target output, and we will size the chambers, the burner and the fuel available around your site.
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