Sustainable Cashew Agriculture

Nearly 50% of the world’s cashews are grown mainly by smallholder farmers in West Africa, which is poised to significantly expand its cashew industry. Recent research by PhD student Leikun Yin (Bioproducts and Biosystems Science, Engineering, and Management PhD program, Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering) indicates that the expansion of cashew plantations poses a major threat to protected areas in some regions (Yin et al. 2023), potentially endangering biodiversity, water resource conservation, and climate change mitigation efforts. The governments of West African countries lack accurate information on the spatial distribution of smallholder plantations, including cashews, which limits their ability to obtain timely insights into the plantation expansion dynamics and to make informed plans that support sustainable development of the cashew industry. 

In a project called “Sustainable cashew plantation expansion in West Africa: Balancing industry growth, poverty reduction, and conservation using deep learning and geospatial data,” Lin will leverage deep learning technology and high-resolution satellite remote sensing data (< 5 m) to map cashew plantations across West Africa and investigate a sustainable development strategy that can balance the booming cashew industry, poverty reduction, and conservation of protected areas.

Some funding for this project was provided by a DSI-MnDRIVE PhD Graduate Assistantship. The DSI-MnDRIVE Graduate Assistantship program supports U of M PhD candidates pursuing research at the intersection of data science and any of the five MnDRIVE areas: 

  • Robotics
  • Global Food 
  • Environment
  • Conditions
  • Cancer Clinical Trials

Projects in this program must align with one of the Data Science Tracks:

  • Foundational Data Science
  • Digital Health and Personalized Health Care Delivery

This project is part of the Global Food and Environment MnDRIVE areas and the Foundational Data Science track. See the complete list of the 2023 RC-MnDRIVE Graduate Assistantships.

Image description: Proportion of global cashew production across various West African countries (top five countries marked with specific percentage values) and distribution of protected areas (green color).

Map showing proportion of global cashew production across various West African countries (top five countries marked with specific percentage values) and distribution of protected areas.