Nigeria’s cocoa production is expected to increase from 340,000 tonnes to 500,000 tonnes by 2024, according to the Federal Government.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development said, at a meeting with Executive Director, International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO), in Abuja. The Minister revealed that Nigeria is the 4th largest producer of cocoa globally, and is committed to partnerships.
What the Minister is saying?
“Recently, Nigeria has made a remarkable move to join the Living Income Differential (LID) initiatives which aims at guaranteeing the livelihood of smallholder farmers.
The two countries are benefiting while Nigerian cocoa farmers are at a disadvantage of this benefit Abubakar said. Mr Arrion Michel, Executive Director, International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO), revealed that Africa produces about 80% of cocoa. But the price is determined in Europe and there is a need to address the issues of market force,”
What you should know
In Q1 2022, Nigeria exported Superior quality cocoa beans valued at N72.59 billion- National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The increase turned the foreign trade balance in favor of Nigeria for the first time since Q2 2021. Nigeria recorded a foreign trade surplus of N1.19 trillion in the review quarter compared to deficit recorded in Q4 2021.
Nigeria’s agricultural export surged by 57.02% to N504.9 billion in 2021 compared to N321.5 billion recorded in the previous year.
Nigeria exported cocoa beans worth N209.89 billion in 2021, accounting for 41.6% of the total export earnings by Nigeria in the year under review. A further breakdown of the data from the NBS showed that Nigeria exported superior quality raw cocoa beans worth N37.42 billion while export of well-fermented cocoa beans was stated at N209.9 billion.
-Nairametics.