Top Fresh Produce Exporters in The Gambia — Groundnuts, Sesame, Cashew Nuts & Tropical Fruits

The Gambia Groundnut Corporation (GGC) is the country's primary groundnut processing and export entity, with crushing mills in Banjul and Kaur capable of producing groundnut oil, groundnut cake, and groundnut kernels. The GGC sources raw groundnuts from farmer cooperatives across the North Bank and Central River regions and applies a centralised quality control system that includes aflatoxin screening at intake.

Groundnut oil is exported in ISO tank containers to West African markets and in 200-litre steel drums to European buyers in the Netherlands and UK. Groundnut kernels (Bold and Java varieties, 25/29 count) are exported in 25 kg polypropylene bags with mandatory aflatoxin certificates (B1 ≤4 ppb EU, B1 ≤15 ppb total aflatoxins EU) from an SGS-accredited laboratory. GGC holds a GIEPA export registration and issues a DoA phytosanitary certificate with every shipment.

Cashew Gambia Export Co. is one of the country's leading cashew aggregators and exporters, sourcing from smallholder farmers in the West Coast and North Bank regions during the April–June cashew season. The company holds GIEPA export registration and works closely with the Gambia National Cashew Alliance to enforce minimum quality standards of KOR ≥46 lbs per 80 kg bag and moisture content ≤10% before acceptance at its Brikama warehouse.

The company exports 6,000–9,000 tonnes of raw cashew per season, primarily to Indian processors in Kollam (Kerala) and Vietnamese factories in Binh Duong province. Shipments are routed through Banjul Port in 20-foot containers. For buyers unable to meet the full container minimum, the company offers shared container consolidation with Senegalese cashew, enabling mid-size buyers in Europe and Turkey to access Gambian cashew at commercially viable volumes.

Senegambia Sesame Exporters operates from Farafenni in the North Bank Region, strategically positioned near the Gambia–Senegal border to aggregate sesame from both Gambian and cross-border Senegalese growing areas. The company processes natural white sesame using vibrating screens, gravity tables, and colour sorters to achieve the purity levels demanded by Japanese and South Korean sesame processors.

Annual export volumes range from 8,000 to 12,000 tonnes of sesame seeds. Quality certificates include an Eurofins or SGS laboratory report confirming purity ≥99.5%, moisture ≤6%, and aflatoxin B1 ≤2 ppb. SSE ships via both Banjul Port (for direct EU and Asian shipments) and Dakar Port (for buyers who require better vessel frequency). The company can arrange fumigation certificates and phytosanitary certificates within 48 hours of loading.

Atlantic Agri-Export Gambia is a Banjul-based multi-commodity trading house with export lines covering groundnut kernels, sesame, raw cashew, and dried hibiscus flowers. Founded by a Gambian-UK business partnership, the company brings European compliance expertise to Gambian sourcing, providing buyers with documentary packages that meet UK Food Standards Agency and EU customs requirements.

The company's value-added processing includes groundnut blanching, roasting, and vacuum-sealed consumer packaging for the UK snack market. Dried hibiscus (Roselle) calyces are processed in-house and exported to health food importers in Germany and France. Atlantic Agri-Export holds a GIEPA export licence, NAFDAC product registration for processed foods, and offers SGS pre-shipment inspection as standard for all food commodity exports.

Gambia River Fresh Produce operates from Basse Santa Su in the Upper River Region, sourcing mangoes (Keitt and local varieties), watermelons, tomatoes, and sweet peppers from irrigated smallholder farms along the Gambia River's upper floodplain. The company provides buyers in Dakar and Abidjan with weekly fresh consignments by road refrigerated truck, and air-freights premium mangoes to London Heathrow during the May–August season.

The company participates in the GIEPA-supported Horticultural Export Programme, which provides GlobalG.A.P. certification technical assistance and subsidised cold-chain equipment. Current GlobalG.A.P. certification covers eight participating farmer groups. Buyers in the UK market can request a TRACES NT import notification service from Gambia River Fresh Produce, which manages EU border import compliance documentation on behalf of buyers.

Kairaba Shea & Botanicals exports unrefined shea butter and wild-harvested botanicals including baobab fruit powder, tamarind paste, and moringa leaf from The Gambia's interior regions. Shea collection is conducted by women's groups in the Central River Region using community-based harvesting protocols that ensure sustainable wild-collection rates. Shea butter is cold-pressed and filtered to achieve a free fatty acid content of ≤1.5% and moisture of ≤0.5%.

The company holds organic EU equivalence certification and exports shea butter in 25 kg drums (unrefined) and 5 kg tins (refined/cosmetic grade) to natural cosmetics manufacturers in France, Germany, and the UK. Baobab powder is produced from wild-harvested fruit and spray-dried to a moisture of ≤8%, certified by a UK-based ISO 17025 lab. All exports carry DoA phytosanitary certificates and organic transaction certificates.

The North Bank Groundnut Farmers Co-op is a producer-led cooperative with 1,200 registered member farmers growing groundnuts in the North Bank Region's sandy loam soils. The cooperative's export arm aggregates, cleans, and grades groundnut kernels before export, with an aflatoxin management programme that includes hermetic bag storage at collection points and mandatory SGS aflatoxin testing before release.

Groundnut kernels (Bold, Java, and local varieties) are exported in 25 kg and 50 kg woven bags to Netherlands-based peanut processors and UK food ingredient companies. Groundnut cake (protein content ≥45%) is exported to EU animal feed manufacturers. The co-op model provides buyers with direct farmer engagement, supply chain traceability to farm-cluster level, and preferential pricing compared to commercial traders.

Tendaba Agro-Products is a women-led export company specialising in sesame seeds and moringa products sourced from small farms in the Central River and Lower River regions. The company was established with support from the International Trade Centre's Women Exporters programme and now exports independently to buyers in China, Japan, and EU health food distributors.

Sesame seeds are cleaned and gravity-sorted to purity ≥99.5% and packed in 25 kg woven bags. Moringa leaf powder is shade-dried and milled to EU food supplement specifications. The company provides buyers with comprehensive quality documentation including Eurofins lab reports, DoA phytosanitary certificates, and GIEPA export registration numbers. Minimum order quantities are 5 tonnes for sesame and 500 kg for moringa powder.

GCNPL operates The Gambia's only commercial cashew kernel processing plant in Banjul, producing shelled and graded cashew kernels (W320, W450, and splits) for the European snack market. The processing plant uses steam roasting, centrifugal shelling, and electronic colour sorting, with a current capacity of 300 tonnes of finished kernels per season.

Processed kernels are packed in vacuum-sealed 25 kg cartons for EU food manufacturers and in 250g and 500g retail bags for UK natural food retailers. Quality certificates include moisture content, free fatty acid, and microbiological analysis (salmonella, e. coli) from a UK-based ISO 17025 laboratory. GCNPL is seeking British Retail Consortium (BRC) Food Safety certification — an audit is scheduled for Q4 2026.

BFAE combines artisanal and semi-industrial fisheries exports with agricultural commodity trading, reflecting The Gambia's dual coastal and agricultural economy. Fish products (dried smoked fish, frozen grouper, dried shrimp) are exported to EU markets under specific EU-approved establishment numbers, while agricultural commodities including sesame, groundnuts, and cashew are traded alongside in consolidated containers.

The agricultural division sources from GIEPA-registered farmer cooperatives and provides buyers with a one-stop logistics solution that handles documentation for both food commodity types. This is particularly useful for buyers in Mauritania, Senegal, and Guinea-Bissau who regularly source mixed consignments of fish and agricultural produce from West Africa.

UROG is The Gambia's pioneering certified organic exporter, holding full EU organic certification (Regulation 848/2018) for groundnuts and sesame sourced from verified organic farms in the Upper River Region. The company's 380 registered organic farmers operate under strict no-synthetic-input protocols, verified by an annual field inspection from an EU-accredited certification body.

Organic groundnut kernels are exported to EU organic food manufacturers at a premium of 20–30% over conventional groundnut prices. Organic white sesame is exported to Japan (JAS-equivalent recognition) and Germany. The company provides organic transaction certificates (TC) for every shipment, a mandatory EU import requirement. UROG also offers small-lot facilitation for buyers testing Gambian organic supply, with minimum orders of 1 tonne.