Because of the huge rise in naira revenue from the sale of the beans, which occurred due to the sudden devaluation of the naira, Nigerian cocoa farmers and exporters are benefiting from the record-high global cocoa prices.
The price of cocoa, the primary ingredient in chocolate, has nearly doubled since the year’s beginning. On February 8, quoted rates on the website of the Internal Cocoa Organization hit a record-breaking $5,874 per ton.
This is because severe weather has damaged the crops in Ghana and Ivory Coast, two of the biggest growers in West Africa, leading to a shortage of supplies and an increase in prices.
According to statistics from FMDQ, prices are rising locally as well as the naira’s wild decline continues, with the currency hitting N1,534 at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Monday.
According to research, the local price of cocoa per ton at the Matori cocoa warehouse in Lagos was N8 million on Wednesday, February 14, 344 percent more than it was in December 2023 (N1.8 million per ton).
The national president of the Cocoa Association of Nigeria, Mufutau Abolarinwa, said that exporters and farmers are profiting greatly from the unprecedented increase in cocoa prices worldwide.
The farm-gate price is currently between N6.5 and N7 million. The main-crop season is still ongoing and ends in early March, according to Abolarinwa.
He said, “This is one of the times that we cocoa farmers are proud of our line of work.”
According to Lawrence Afere, the CEO and creator of Nigeria’s Springboard Farmers’ Co-operative, some farmers are harvesting beans from nearby West African nations to sell to exporters.
“Being a cocoa farmer is exciting at this moment because prices are rising every day,” he remarked.
Cocoa growers are profiting handsomely from the depreciation of the naira and the increase in world prices caused by a shortage from leading producers. The amount that exporters are exporting ranges from N8 to N8.5 million, he continued.
Cocoa growers are profiting handsomely from the depreciation of the naira and the increase in world prices caused by a shortage from leading producers. The amount that exporters are exporting ranges from N8 to N8.5 million, he continued.
The value of Nigeria’s worldwide supply decreased by 3.4 percent to 280,000 metric tons in the 2022–2023 season, making it the fourth-largest producer and supplier of cocoa in the world, according to the International Cocoa Organization’s most recent data on global output (ICCO).
The nation’s production output is expected to rise for the 2023–2024 cocoa season, according to the Cocoa Association.
“Based on current trends, we anticipate a higher yield when the mid-crop season starts next month,” stated Sayina Rima, the former national president of the cocoa organization, from his Ikom farm located in Cross River State.
He stated, “Farmers are happy that prices are rising,” and that many are now increasing output since it is more lucrative to produce the crop.
In order for farmers to assist the nation in producing its much needed foreign cash, he pleaded with the Tinubu administration to back the cocoa sector.
The lesser mid-crop, which is harvested in April–June, and the main crop, which is harvested in October–December, are the two cocoa harvest seasons in the nation.
About 70% of Nigeria’s cocoa production comes from the main crop, and 30% comes from the mid-crop for the entire season’s production.
Data from Nigeria’s international trade report for the first nine months of 2023 show that the country exported agricultural items worth N798.5 billion.
Twenty-six percent of the agricultural goods shipped in the first nine months of 2023 were made up of cocoa.
The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Indonesia, the United States, Malaysia, Canada, and Italy were the top export destinations for the item.