Cashew apples into plant protein: Segniore Mendy reinvents Casamance’s cashew chain

Attached to every cashew nut is a fleshy, brightly colored false fruit – the cashew apple – which often ends up rotting on the ground. In Agnack, Ziguinchor region of Senegal, producer Segniore Mendy is transforming this neglected by-product into a sought-after raw material for plant-based “meat” now gaining traction in the national market.

Backed by Nutrivies – a local enterprise and winner of the AICCRA Gender Smart Accelerator Challenge (GSAC) and the Netherlands Trust Fund V (NTFV) – her initiative highlights how Senegalese farmers are converting cashew by-products into a nutritious, income-generating, and climate-resilient solution.