Cocoa Farming And Production in Nigeria

Before the oil boom in Nigeria, there was cocoa, which we banked on as one of our major cash crops exports. Nigeria was then the biggest exporter in Africa and ranked amongst the top exporters in the world. Then the oil came, and the agricultural sector was abandoned and poor agricultural management became rampant.-farming, along with other cash crop farming, took a back seat to the exploration of oil. Nigeria quickly lost our international market to countries such as Indonesia and Cote D’Ivoire. Fondly called the wealth seed, discerning Nigerian farmers are now returning to the cultivation on an industrial scale. However, cocoa production is still under-exploited, as global demand still surpasses supply by a huge margin. And while cocoa is not the easiest of crops to manage, farmers with the requisite knowledge, enthusiasm and patience to run and manage cocoa farms can benefit in the long run, and become the new crop of self-made millionaires. In the past, Nigeria topped the list of cocoa producing countries. It lost its position as a result of the oil boom and exploration. In recent times however, it has taken up production again, and currently ranks as the world’s fourth principal producer. According to the Cocoa Association of Nigeria (CAN), Nigeria ranks behind Cote D’Ivoire (1st), Ghana (2nd) and Indonesia (3rd). Together, Ghana, Nigeria, and Cote D’Ivoire supply more than two -thirds of the world’s cocoa. The top 10  producing countries in the world (as of today) are;

1. Ivory Coast
2. Indonesia
3. Ghana
4. Nigeria
5. Cameroon
6. Brazil
7. Ecuador
8. Mexico
9. Dominica Republic
10. Peru

source: BCA