What trade theories help to explain where cashew tree products have been produced historically?

Answer 1

Cashew tree products? Are you talking about the trade routes and how they effected the shaping of the western/eastern world? I'm not sure, but look into some art history on this too, you'll find out some pretty interesting facts and get a bird's eye view of what the "trades" used to be like.
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Answer 2

In theory, producers seek the most profitable use of land and other capital. So cashews (or any other product) should be produced in an area where the cost of production (farming) is relatively low (favorable climate, soil, etc.), where the cost of getting them to market (transporting the cashews to either the end consumers who buy and eat them, or to traders who for profit buy them from the farmers then transport them to the end markets, whichever is more profitable/cost effective) is relatively low, and where the price they sell for is relatively high. Even if these conditions are met, if another substitute product is more profitable (for example even though cashews are profitable, cherries are more profitable), producers should in theory switch to the more profitable substitute.

Some other considerations are losses due to perishing, insects, rodents, etc.; degree of risk (is there a 25% chance each year that below-freezing weather will kill the crops, etc.); and sophistication of the financial systems (can the farmer sell or option his crops before they are harvested, which is usually true in a modern economy, or are we talking about a premodern economy where everything is pay-cash-as-you-go or barter system? Is crop insurance available? Etc.)

Answer 3

Most are in South America. Based on Old Slave trade.