What's For Dinner? Cook With Cashews, Support Local Farmers
"Eat Locally Grown Cashew – Healthy, Nutritional and Tasty." Sounds like a promotion you might see in your local Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods, right? How about in Africa’s smallest country, The Gambia?
International Relief & Development (IRD) has been working with local farmers in the West African countries of The Gambia and Senegal since 2009 to strengthen the cashew value chain, improve cashew quality and increase local consumption. Strong agricultural value chains are important to increasing incomes and promoting economic growth. IRD’s agricultural work focuses on enabling all factors along the value chain – including farmers, input suppliers, wholesalers, transporters, food processors and lending institutions – to become viable partners in their countries’ economies, generate employment and improve food security.
To showcase the improved cashew results and further encourage people to eat cashew and support their local farmers, IRD hosted two cashew festivals in The Gambia and Senegal. The festivals aimed to raise awareness of the nutritional importance of cashew and encourage creative uses of the cashew nut and apple in local dishes. (Not familiar with a cashew apple? It's the edible fruit from which the cashew nut hangs. It can be pressed for fresh juice or made into wine. It can also be dried, made into jelly or jam, or used in baking.)
Weekly tastings were also held at popular supermarkets and local event managers and businesses agreed to provide visitors with information packets including t-shirts, stickers and cashew samples. In addition, a local cooking program, Bakubi, showcased traditional dishes using cashew instead of the usual peanut.
At each cashew festival, local hotel and restaurant chefs, caterers, and women’s groups competed to create the best tasting appetizers, main courses and desserts using cashew. The level of creativity and innovation was so much beyond expectations that the judges awarded extra prizes for creativity and tastiness.
All the best recipes have been collected in The Cashew Cookbook. We hope you’ll enjoy these recipes with your family and friends, and let us know which ones you like the best.
The Cashew Value Chain Enhancement Project (CEP) is funded by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) under the Food for Progress program and implemented by IRD. The festival and media campaign was done in collaboration with a local Gambian media firm Executive Group.
This piece from International Relief & Development was originally published on the IRD Voices Blog.
