[Guinea-Bissau] Cashew Nut, Location Stamp
M Daniels
I would like to request a location stamp for the country of Guinea-Bissau. Guinea-Bissau (officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau) is a country in West Africa with just under 2 million inhabitants. The official language is Portuguese, as it was once ruled by Portugal, though the national language is Guinea-Bissau Creole (a Portuguese based Creole).
Source : Wikipedia
A lot of people might not know this but Guinea-Bissau is one of the top 5 cashew nut producers in the world and the second largest in West Africa! The cashew tree was first introduced to the county by Portugal but it wasn't until the mid 1980's that it was finally cultivated. Now, the cashew nut is one of Guinea-Bissau's main exports with around 200,000 tons being exported per year.
Source : BBC
Cashew nuts originate from the cashew apple (which varies in color from red to yellow), a fruit that grows on cashew trees! Farmers remove the cashew nut from each fruit, then the nuts are roasted, deshelled and packed in sacks to be dried before being exported. The actual cashew fruit can be pressed to make a sweet fruit juice, fermented to make wine or even distilled to make liquor.
The uses of the cashew nut go even further. The shell of the cashew is also used as a component in paint, lubricants, waterproofing and even arms production! The leaves of the cashew tree can be used to treat malaria and also chewed to treat toothaches.
Source : Wikipedia
Cashews are of great importance to Guinea-Bissau, as 85% of the population depends on cashew farming. In many ways, the cashew nut represents Guinea-Bissau and would be most ideal to feature on a location stamp.
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Daniel K A Paz
I think it would be odd since it is a fruit native from South America and Guinea-Bissau ain't even the largest producer in the world or even in Africa as you said. The country deserves something more unique and representative of their culture and history.
Yann2
Thank you, M Daniels for this proposal!
It's interesting, I love cashew nuts and did not know Guine-Bissau was a large producer and exporter. The cashew fruit is quite common in Brazil as well, there's fruit juice sold in bottles, it can be made into a very sweet compote (either in chunks or paste like sweet).
They look pretty with the reddish colour. A nice post, thank you!