Nigeria may lose its position in the comity of cocoa producing countries as floods and diseases cut 2018 output in key cocoa producing states.
The International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO) estimated Nigeria’s production in 2017/2018 season to reach 240,000 metric tons.
But industry players say there will likely be a 15 percent decline in production capacity in 2017/2018 output when the numbers for the season are released.
The Cocoa Association of Nigeria thinks that the poor output for the period might cause a decline in the country position in the global comity of cocoa producing states, while attributing it to extreme weather conditions and disease outbreak experienced in the cause of the year.
“The high incident of last year’s floods would cut down the country’s 2017/2018 production by about 15 percent,” Sayina Rima, national president, Cocoa Association of Nigeria (CAN) said by phone from his farm in Ikom, in the South-South region.
“The high yielding lowlands where taking over by floods and all this has affected our production to a loss of about 60,000 metric tons. This might affect our global cocoa rankings for the period,” Rima said.
Africa’s most populous nation currently ranks joint fifth with neighbouring Cameroon with 210, 000 metric tons production in the 2016-2017 season, data from the International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO) states.
“Our 2018 output was low and farmers have less to invest in this year’s production and this is due to extreme weather conditions,” Robo Adhuze, chief operating officer, Centre for Cocoa Development Initiative, said in a telephone response to questions.
In recent years Nigeria has failed to steadily increase its cocoa production over the years, despite the commodity being the largest single foreign exchange earner after oil.
This is as a result of a combination of factors, ranging from poor yield per hectare, low investments, ageing farmers and extreme weather conditions, BusinessDay’s investigation gathered.
The average age of cocoa farmers in Africa’s largest economy is 60 currently, implying that the sector is yet unattractive to Nigeria’s young population.
“The average age of a farmer in Nigeria today is 60 years. For a crop that is highly labour-intensive, 60 years will not give the maximum impact in the industry,” Rima said.
“Tree crops like cocoa suffer the most. We need to start making cocoa and the like attractive to the youths through incentives, because the investments in tree crops are very high and most youths cannot afford it,” he added.
Also, the country’s cocoa industry is currently plagued by low productivity of less than 0.350 tons per hectare, when other leading countries are producing about two to five tons per hectare of improved variety, according to the Institute of International Tropical Agriculture (IITA).
Experts agree that there is a need to increase Nigeria falling cocoa production.
To achieve this, Anna Muyiwa, plant biotechnologist, Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CAN), said the country must start rehabilitating old cocoa plantations and develop more hybrid varieties.
“We need to rehabilitate our old cocoa trees in all cocoa producing states. A completely rehabilitated cocoa plantations of proven clone will produce as much as 2.5 tons per hectare,” Muyiwa said, stressing the need to develop more hybrid varieties
“Nigeria’s cocoa average yield per hectare is among the lowest in the world and this is due to old age of most cocoa plantations,” she further said.
Speaking on the outlook for the sector in 2019, the country’s cocoa association states that production for the year will surpass that of 2018.
Nigeria has two cocoa harvests which include the smaller midcrop from April to June, and the main crop from October to December.
The main crop normally accounts for about 70 percent of Nigeria’s cocoa output while the midcrop accounts for the remaining percentage.
A metric ton of cocoa sells for $2,310 as at the time of writing, according to the International Cocoa organisation (ICCO).
Josephine Okojie
