Breaking News: Cocoa exports from Nigeria has increased by 305% in the First Half of 2024 as foreign demand continues to rise. This is according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics.
Findings made by 9AM News Nigeria tie the causes of the skyrocketing demand of cocoa from Nigeria to the weakened state of the naira, making it cheaper to buy from Nigeria and the drastic shortfall in supply from Ivory Coast and Ghana, two of the world’s biggest suppliers of cocoa.
The price of cocoa in Nigeria has also risen by 568% within this period with one metric ton currently selling for between N11 million – N12 million.
Surge For Cocoa
This new demand surge has resulted in farmers scrambling to expand their cocoa plantations to boost production. It has also drawn new players into the industry with the aim to get a bigger share of the booming market.
Commenting on the issue, National President of the Cocoa Association of Nigeria Mufutua Abolarinwa said “The reason for this high revenue from cocoa export is because of the dollar exchange rate,” he noted. “Production did not necessarily increase from its current 280,000 metric tons.”
National President of the Cocoa Farmers Association (CFA) said the amount of money generated from cocoa this year alone reflects the enormous potential in the crop addding that if given greater attention and investment the revenue from the cocoa could turn the fortunes of Nigeria.
“You can imagine the efforts and the returns that are coming from the export of cocoa. It shows that if governments and all of us at the private sector can remain focused in terms of increasing and decentralising the production of cocoa, Nigeria could be producing about 500,000 to 600,000 metric tons” he said.
Findings made by Ogasabi of 9AM News Nigeria show that cocoa exports accounted for 42.5% of the total agricultural export this year and has raked in more than N500 billion in revenue.
Cocoa growth In africa
Nigeria is currently the world’s fourth largest supplier of cocoa, behind Ivory Coast, Indonesia and Ghana who are the first, second and third highest suppliers respectively.
The Oloni Eti-Oni and chairman of Eti-Oni Development Group, Oba Dokun Thompson has called for value addition on cocoa instead of merely selling the raw product for financial gains.
He warned that the current high selling price of cocoa will not last for long as nations are currently investing heavily in the crop to ramp up production. He also called on the government for more support.
“Government needs to support innovation and creative ideas, new ideas and new ways to ensure that there is a clear understanding of the cocoa industry,” Oba Thompson said.
