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Regenerative Cashew 

Building on the DeiMeas pilot, this intervention scales a proven model that uses well-designed incentive schemes to drive the adoption of regenerative practices among cashew farmers. Key lessons show that incentives are most effective when integrated into commercial supply chains, ensuring long-term sustainability beyond project support. The next phase (2025–2028) focuses on three core components: deploying recyclable grant mechanisms to reduce farmers’ transition costs, establishing a traceability system to enable certification and market access, and strengthening policy engagement to support sector-wide scale-up.

Background

This project aims to unlock the full potential of Cambodia’s cashew sector by transforming it into a high-value, climate-resilient, and regenerative value chain aligned aligning with national policy priorities. Although While cashew is a strategic commodity under the National Cashew Policy 2022–2027, the sector remains constrained by soil degradation, increasing climate risks, and a structurally weak value chain dominated by raw exports. As a result, farmers face declining productivity, rising higher input costs due to overreliance heavy reliance on chemical fertilizers fertilisers and pesticides, and limited income opportunities, while the country continues to lose significant value through minimal domestic processing.

To address these challenges, the project introduces a market-driven incentive model that supports smallholder farmers in transitioning to regenerative agricultural practices while strengthening the entire supply chain. It embeds price premiums, technical assistance, and traceability systems within commercial partnerships. The project aligns farmer incentives with sustainable production and connects them to high-value markets. At the same time, the project works with aggregators, processors, and buyers to improve supply chain efficiency, promote local value addition, and mobilise blended finance to reduce risk during the transition.

Through this integrated approach, the project addresses the root causes of low productivity and value leakage, enabling farmers to restore soil health, reduce chemical dependency, and improve resilience to climate shocks. Ultimately, it shifts the cashew sector from a low-value, high-risk system to a sustainable, inclusive, and market-driven model, delivering higher farmer incomes, improved national competitiveness, and measurable climate and environmental benefits at scale.

Objectives

To transform Cambodia’s cashew sector into a high-value, climate-resilient, and regenerative value chain by enabling smallholder farmers to adopt sustainable practices, strengthening traceable, premium market linkages, and reducing value loss from raw exports while improving farmer income and environmental outcomes.

Vision

To unlock pathways for increased farmer incomes while delivering ecological benefits through inclusive transition finance that accelerates the shift to regenerative and climate-resilient agriculture in Cambodia.

Regenerative Cashew in the Making

2025
Foundation & Transition
With the wrap-up of the DeiMeas pilot phase, which consolidated the key learning and insight to guide future implementation, the cashew intervention also has also begun strengthen the value chain and promote sustainable practices. A field study was conducted to assess the cashew sector to design the intervention. At the same time, active engagement with off-takers, agroecology practitioners, and other relevant stakeholders was established to ensure alignment, collaboration, and a market-driven approach to implementation.
2026
Scale and System Strengthening
The cashew intervention focused on expanding and refining traceability systems across the value chain, ensuring greater transparency, accountability, and efficiency from farm to market. The intervention continued to implement and scale in Siem Reap and Preah Vihear provinces, placing strong emphasis on sustainable practices that improve soil health and long-term productivity. The intervention conducted more on-the-ground events to deepen farmers’ practical understanding of cover crops, biofertilisers, and soil management techniques, helping them apply these practices effectively. It also strengthened critical linkages between farmers, aggregators, processors, and premium buyers, improving coordination, value chain integration, and market access. At the same time, the project laid the groundwork to scale these interventions to additional regions, ensuring lessons learned and best practices could be replicated successfully.

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Regenerative Cashew Pitch Deck
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