Côte d'Ivoire: Cashew sector bets on biochar to create higher added value

Côte d’Ivoire is the world’s leading producer of cashew nuts and the third-largest processor, after Vietnam and India. This industrialization generates a large volume of shells that were long considered waste but are now being increasingly valorized for industrial purposes.

In Côte d’Ivoire, Ibrahim Konaté, Minister of Trade, Industry and Handicrafts, inaugurated on June 18 in the PK31 industrial zone of Attinguié what is presented as Africa’s first large-scale commercial biochar production unit made from cashew shells.

Led by the Singapore-based group Valency International and its compatriot Revata Carbon, specialized in industrial waste valorization, the facility marks a new stage in the rise of a biomass-based economy, where agricultural residues are no longer treated as waste but as exploitable resources.

A new link in the cashew value chain

Biochar is a product obtained through pyrolysis (heating organic material at high temperatures without oxygen) of organic matter such as wood waste or agricultural residues. It is used as a soil amendment to improve soil structure and its ability to retain water and nutrients, but also as a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels such as charcoal or coal.

With an announced capacity of 20,000 tons of cashew shells processed per year to produce around 6,000 tons of biochar, the Attinguié plant, whose investment cost has not been disclosed, opens a new phase of valorization focused not only on cashew nuts themselves but also on their by-products.

According to local media reports, plant managers are already planning to increase processing capacity to reach 100,000 tons of biochar per year by 2029.

In any case, this new investment adds more value within the Ivorian cashew sector, which until now has mainly relied on the production of raw nuts and processed kernels for export.

In 2025, Côte d’Ivoire exported nearly 728.11 billion CFA francs (about 1.27 billion USD) worth of cashew nuts and kernels, according to data from the Directorate General of Customs, and could further increase revenues in the coming years with the development of the biochar industry.

A rapidly growing market

Still far from being a mass-market product, biochar is nevertheless experiencing growing international demand, driven by agricultural and environmental concerns. This momentum could benefit Valency International through its operations in Côte d’Ivoire.

According to the latest report from the American consulting and market research firm Global Market Insights Inc, the global biochar market size is expected to grow from 109.3 million USD in 2026 to 320.8 million USD by 2035, representing a compound annual growth rate of 12.7% over the period.

This growth is driven by the increasing adoption of sustainable agricultural practices by farmers.

“Farmers have begun using biochar as a permanent method to improve soil because they must fight erosion and declining fertility, as well as the growing problem of excessive chemical use,” the report notes.

At the same time, the expansion of voluntary carbon markets is creating multiple factors that influence the overall size of the biochar market.

“The material value of biochar as an effective carbon removal method encourages companies to use it in their carbon dioxide removal practices to obtain certified carbon credits. The business model generates revenue through two channels, including product sales and carbon credit sales, leading to market growth through increased financing and production capacity to meet future demand,” explains Global Market Insights Inc.

A transformation dynamic beyond the cashew sector alone

The emergence of biochar within Côte d’Ivoire’s cashew industry is part of a broader movement toward a structured agricultural biomass economy.

Before the Attinguié plant, several recent projects had already illustrated this trend. In the energy sector, a 76 MW power plant under development in Divo since June 2025 aims to valorize up to 600,000 tons of agricultural by-products from cocoa and rubber to generate electricity fed into the national grid.

At the same time, an industrial partnership with Italian oil and gas group Eni, initiated in 2024, is structuring an emerging biofuels chain based on rubber seeds, once considered waste but now transformed into vegetable oil used for biofuel production.

Thus, the rise of biochar in Côte d’Ivoire through the Valency International facility is not merely an industrial development in the cashew sector. It reflects a deeper transformation: the emergence of a biomass economy in which agricultural by-products are becoming full-fledged energy, industrial, and climate assets.