Sahel Chanel connects buyers with agricultural commodities from the Alliance of Sahel States: cashew first, alongside sesame, shea, hibiscus, onions and pulses. Clear specifications, documented terms and one conversation at a time.
Flagship commodityCashew kernels & raw nutsW240W320W450Splits
~72m
people across the three states of the Sahel confederation
120kt
raw cashew nuts exported by Burkina Faso in 2023, before its push to process at home
377kt
sesame produced in Burkina Faso in the 2024–25 season, up 52.5%
2.76Mt
cowpea harvested in Niger in 2024, alongside 141,000 t of sesame
What the Sahel grows
Commodities, described plainly.
Each commodity has its own season, export rules and specification. Here is what we discuss with buyers, and what to know before you ask.
FlagshipBurkina FasoMali
Cashew
The southwest of Burkina Faso and southern Mali form one of the Sahel's established cashew belts. Policy now favours processing at origin, so kernels are increasingly the product of choice. We discuss graded kernels, and raw nuts where a campaign's export rules allow.
W180W240W320W450SplitsPieces
Forms
White wholes, splits and pieces; raw cashew nuts (RCN); CNSL
Season
February to June (indicative)
Floor price
385 FCFA/kg farmgate, Burkina Faso, 2025 and 2026
Burkina Faso suspended raw-nut exports from 28 March 2025 to supply local processors; in 2026, buying was reserved for domestic plants from 21 February to 1 April. Export status is checked for every campaign.
Natural and cleaned white or mixed sesame. Burkina Faso's 2025–26 campaign opened on 8 November 2025 at a 535 FCFA/kg floor price.
Season
October to January
Forms
Natural, cleaned, hulled
Mali suspended sesame exports in October 2024.
Burkina FasoMali
Shea
Hand-collected nuts from wild parklands, processed into unrefined or refined butter for food and cosmetics.
Season
May to August
Forms
Butter (unrefined, refined)
Burkina Faso and Mali suspended kernel exports in 2024 to supply local processors, so we lead with butter.
NigerBurkina FasoMali
Hibiscus
Dried roselle calyces for teas, beverages and colourants. Niger harvested 98,520 t of roselle in 2024, up 40.7%.
Season
October to December
Forms
Whole or cut dried calyces
Niger
Onion
The Violet de Galmi, a red onion grown under dry-season irrigation and traded across coastal West Africa.
Season
February to May
Forms
Fresh, graded, mesh bags
NigerBurkina Faso
Cowpea & groundnut
Niger harvested 2.76 Mt of cowpea and 673,000 t of groundnut in 2024. We discuss sorted and cleaned lots for regional and international buyers.
Season
October to December
Forms
Cleaned, sorted, bagged
Niger
Tiger nut
Souchet, used for horchata, flours and snacks. Niger produced 72,253 t in 2024.
Season
October to November
Forms
Dried, cleaned, whole
Burkina FasoMali
Dried mango
Sun- and air-dried mango slices, organic and conventional, prepared in Burkina Faso for European and regional buyers.
Season
April to July
Forms
Dried slices, organic and conventional
The EU suspended fresh mango imports from Mali over fruit-fly interceptions; exporters have shifted to Morocco and the UK.
MaliBurkina Faso
Cotton
Mali returned to the top of African cotton production in 2024–25. Ginning is led by the national companies, CMDT in Mali and Sofitex in Burkina Faso.
Season
November to March
Forms
Lint by grade and staple
Cashew, value at origin
More of the nut now stays where it grows.
Governments across the region are moving cashew from raw export to local processing. For buyers, that means more kernel supply at origin, new plants coming online, and raw-nut rules that need checking each campaign.
Raw-nut exports suspended in Burkina Faso so local processors are supplied first.
16,000 tprocessed, 2024
Roughly 10% of Burkina Faso's 161,000 t harvest was processed locally, against about 30,000 t of installed capacity.
Dec 2025Bobo-Dioulasso
Burkina Cajou, a large-scale processing plant, was inaugurated in the heart of the cashew belt.
732,000 tWest Africa, 2025
Raw nuts processed in West Africa in 2025, led by Côte d'Ivoire.
Origins
Three countries, one confederation.
Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger are landlocked, mineral-rich and agricultural. Gold dominates their export statistics; farming shapes their rural economies.
Burkina Faso
Gold accounts for about four-fifths of exports, but cashew, sesame, cotton and shea anchor the rural economy. The southwest, around Bobo-Dioulasso and Banfora, is cashew country. Policy since 2024 has favoured processing at home: raw cashew and shea kernel exports are suspended, and new processing capacity is coming online.
Capital
Ouagadougou
Lead crops
Cashew, sesame, cotton, shea
Main corridors
Abidjan, Lomé, Tema
Cashew hub
Bobo-Dioulasso
Burkina Faso export mix, 2024
Exports by value, US$ millions. Agricultural exports are small beside gold.
Gold4,64082.3% of exports
Cotton3335.9% of exports
Raw cashew991.7% of exports
Sesame711.3% of exports
All other~498~8.8% of exports (derived)
Source: WTO trade profile, UN Comtrade dataTable
Product
US$m
Share
Gold
4,640
82.3%
Cotton
332.8
5.9%
Raw cashew
98.5
1.7%
Sesame
71.1
1.3%
Mali
Gold made up about 80% of Mali's exports in 2024; cotton is the leading agricultural export. Southern Mali, around Sikasso, grows cotton, cashew, mango and shea. The Dakar corridor carries more than 60% of Mali's import volumes, and transport and transit agreements signed with Guinea in early 2026 strengthen the Conakry route.
Capital
Bamako
Lead crops
Cotton, cashew, mango, shea
Main corridors
Dakar, Abidjan, Conakry
Export note
Sesame and shea suspended since Oct 2024
Mali export mix, 2024
Share of exports by value. Cotton leads the remainder.
Gold80%Gold mining dominates exports
All other20%Cotton, livestock, cashew, sesame, shea and more
Source: US International Trade AdministrationTable
Product
Share, 2024
Gold
80%
All other
20%
Niger
Niger's exports are led by oil, uranium and gold, but its farms produce pulses, oilseeds and onions on a large scale. Before 2023, most of its freight moved through Cotonou. The Benin border has stayed closed since then, though expert talks on reopening concluded in June 2026. Trade now runs largely through Lomé. Niger has no meaningful cashew sector.
Capital
Niamey
Lead crops
Cowpea, groundnut, sesame, onion
Main corridors
Lomé (via Burkina Faso)
Onion hub
Galmi, Tahoua region
Niger rain-fed crop production, 2024
Tonnes, selected cash crops.
Cowpea2.76m2,763,022 t · +28.6%
Groundnut673k672,756 t · +20.5%
Sesame141k141,025 t · +12.5%
Roselle98.5k98,520 t · +40.7%
Tiger nut72.3k72,253 t · −21.2%
Source: Niger Ministry of Agriculture, 2024 campaign reportTable
Crop
Tonnes
vs 2023
Cowpea
2,763,022
+28.6%
Groundnut
672,756
+20.5%
Sesame
141,025
+12.5%
Roselle
98,520
+40.7%
Tiger nut
72,253
−21.2%
Seasons
A year in the Sahel.
The rains fall from June to September. Most crops come in after them; cashew, onions and mango come through the dry season.
Indicative harvest and marketing windows by commodity and month
Commodity
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
CashewBurkina Faso, Mali
Jan: —
Feb: in season
Mar: in season
Apr: in season
May: in season
Jun: in season
Jul: —
Aug: —
Sep: —
Oct: —
Nov: —
Dec: —
OnionNiger
Jan: —
Feb: in season
Mar: in season
Apr: in season
May: in season
Jun: —
Jul: —
Aug: —
Sep: —
Oct: —
Nov: —
Dec: —
Dried mangoBurkina Faso, Mali
Jan: —
Feb: —
Mar: —
Apr: in season
May: in season
Jun: in season
Jul: in season
Aug: —
Sep: —
Oct: —
Nov: —
Dec: —
SheaBurkina Faso, Mali
Jan: —
Feb: —
Mar: —
Apr: —
May: in season
Jun: in season
Jul: in season
Aug: in season
Sep: —
Oct: —
Nov: —
Dec: —
SesameBurkina Faso, Niger
Jan: in season
Feb: —
Mar: —
Apr: —
May: —
Jun: —
Jul: —
Aug: —
Sep: —
Oct: in season
Nov: in season
Dec: in season
HibiscusNiger, Burkina Faso
Jan: —
Feb: —
Mar: —
Apr: —
May: —
Jun: —
Jul: —
Aug: —
Sep: —
Oct: in season
Nov: in season
Dec: in season
Cowpea & groundnutNiger, Burkina Faso
Jan: —
Feb: —
Mar: —
Apr: —
May: —
Jun: —
Jul: —
Aug: —
Sep: —
Oct: in season
Nov: in season
Dec: in season
Tiger nutNiger
Jan: —
Feb: —
Mar: —
Apr: —
May: —
Jun: —
Jul: —
Aug: —
Sep: —
Oct: in season
Nov: in season
Dec: —
CottonMali, Burkina Faso
Jan: in season
Feb: in season
Mar: in season
Apr: —
May: —
Jun: —
Jul: —
Aug: —
Sep: —
Oct: —
Nov: in season
Dec: in season
Cashew campaignMain harvest or marketing windowIndicative windows. Campaign dates are set nationally each year.
Corridors
Landlocked, never far from a port.
Every tonne leaves by road or rail to a coastal port. The route depends on origin, product and current conditions, and we agree it for each shipment.
CorridorRestrictedPortInland hub
Dakar Senegal · Mali
Carries more than 60% of Mali's import volumes. A blockade of the Kayes–Nioro axis disrupted traffic from September 2025.
Abidjan Côte d'Ivoire · Mali, Burkina Faso
The natural outlet for the cashew belt, via Sikasso and Bobo-Dioulasso.
Lomé Togo · Burkina Faso, Niger
A main outlet for Burkina Faso and, since the Benin border closed in 2023, for much of Niger's trade.
Tema Ghana · Burkina Faso
A direct road from Ouagadougou through northern Ghana.
Conakry Guinea · Mali
Transport and transit agreements signed with Mali in early 2026 build an alternative to Dakar.
Cotonou Benin · Niger
Niger's historic route. The land border has stayed closed since 2023; reopening talks concluded in June 2026.
The Alliance of Sahel States
What has changed for trade.
In two years the three states formed a confederation, left ECOWAS and began tilting policy towards processing at home. These are the milestones that matter to buyers.
Liptako-Gourma Charter
Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger sign a mutual defence pact founding the AES.
Confederation
The alliance becomes a confederation at a summit in Niamey.
Mali export suspension
Sesame, shea, groundnut and soy exports are suspended to support local processing.
ECOWAS exit takes effect
The three states formally leave ECOWAS and introduce a common passport.
0.5% confederal levy
An import levy is agreed to fund the confederation's institutions and projects.
Raw cashew held at home
Burkina Faso suspends raw cashew exports so local plants are supplied first.
Burkina Cajou opens
A large cashew processing plant is inaugurated in Bobo-Dioulasso.
Mali–Guinea transit
Road and maritime transit agreements strengthen Conakry as a route to the sea.
Our approach
Room for the details.
Commodity trade works when everyone knows what was agreed. We make each step explicit and put it in writing.
01
Specify
Product, grade, volume, packaging, Incoterm, destination and delivery window, agreed at the start.
02
Sample & inspect
Pre-shipment samples and independent quality and weight inspection at origin, against the agreed specification.
03
Contract & document
A written contract, with export authorisations checked against the current national rules for that campaign.
04
Ship & follow through
A corridor chosen for the shipment, regular status updates and documents released as agreed.
Documents we work through with you.
The exact set depends on product, origin and destination, and is confirmed in the contract.
Sales contract and pro forma
Export authorisation and licences
Phytosanitary certificate
Certificate of origin
Quality and weight inspection report
Fumigation certificate
Bill of lading
Commercial invoice and packing list
Make the first connection
Tell us what you have in mind.
Share the product, specification and volume you are looking for. We will reply with the questions that matter and a clear next step.
Sales contract and pro forma
Export authorisation and licences
Phytosanitary certificate
Certificate of origin
Quality and weight inspection report
Fumigation certificate
Bill of lading
Commercial invoice and packing list
