For historical reasons, Guinea-Bissau has only a few industrial facilities available, which is why more than 90% of all inhabitants of the tropical country work in agriculture. For example, the climate offers ideal conditions for cultivating cashew nuts. Cultivation, harvesting, additional processing, and exporting the nuts, of which in 2015 alone the country exported around 175,000 tons, are of essential economic significance. It is not without reason that Guinea-Bissau ranks worldwide among the largest producers of cashew nuts, which make up 85% of the country’s total export yields.

An additional agricultural sector which profits from the country’s climate is the cultivation of tropical fruits such as bananas, papayas, mangos, grapefruit, oranges, and various other exotic fruits, such as the baobab fruit. Of great significance here is above all the production of dried fruits that are primarily destined for the local market but which are also exported successfully to the African continental market.

Moreover, the geographic location directly on the Atlantic and the delta estuary consisting of four uniform tropical river courses constitute the basis for Guinea-Bissau’s unbelievable richness in fish resources, which is known far beyond the borders of West Africa. Season after season, the most diverse fish species are caught – among them barracuda, snapper, cobia, tarpon, and Senegal Jack Fish, twenty different shark species, yellowtail mackerel, snub-nosed mackerel, akyas, sierra and horse mackerel, bone fish, gunnel and herring, rays, and grouper – which are processed for both the local market and for export.