This paper present the results of investigation carried out in studying the fuel properties of cashew nut shell and its gasification feasibility for open core down draft gasifier. Cashew nut shell was converted to producer gas in an open core down draft gasifier whose performance was evaluated in terms of fuel consumption rate, calorific value of producer gas and gasification efficiency at different gas flow rates. It was found that producer gas calorific value and volumetric percentage of its combustible constituents, along with gasification efficiency, in general, increased with the increase in gas flow rate. The maximum gasification efficiency was found to be 70% at a gas flow rate of 130 m(3) h(-1) and specific gasification rate of 167 kg h(-1) m(-2). Studies revealed that cashew nut shells could successfully be used as feedstock for open core down draft gasifier. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.