Cashews

From tiny harvests two decades ago, the West African country now holds the cashew crown, supplanting India as the biggest producer of the nut

The country’s cashew nut industry, one of the world’s biggest, was dealt a body blow first by the 1977-1992 civil war

About a third of Côte d’Ivoire’s cashew nuts are smuggled abroad every year, robbing the country of a valuable income stream.

The next time you grab a handful of cashew nuts, think that you may be holding the economic heartbeat of one tiny West African state in your hand.