Rising cocoa prices are igniting interest in making Nigeria a more significant player in the market in an effort to compete with leading producers Ghana and Ivory Coast, whose crops have been severely damaged by disease and climate change.
After global prices surged to a record $12,000 per tonne in December, investors gave cocoa beans another look, despite Nigeria’s struggles to diversify its oil-dependent economy.
“The farmers have never had it so good,” Patrick Adebola, executive directorat the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria, told AFP.
The British government’s development financing arm recently invested $40.5 million in Nigerian agriculture company Johnvents, and over a dozen local businesses have indicated interest in investing in or growing their operations this year.
Based on the latest data published by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Nigeria ranks seventh globally in terms of cocoa bean production, with over 280,000 tons produced in 2023.
For the 2024–2025 season, the government has set an ambitious output goal of 500,000 tonnes, which would place it fourth behind Ghana, Indonesia, and Ivory Coast.
Adebola is skeptical that Nigeria would meet the goal this season, but he thinks it is doable in the coming years given the growing interest in restoring or building new plantations.
He claimed that because prices are controlled in Ghana and Ivory Coast, Nigerian growers are far more vulnerable to the peaks and valleys of the world cocoa market than their counterparts in those nations.
Although New York cocoa futures contracts have dropped from their peak in December, they are still trading at over $8,000 per tonne. Prior to the latest spike, cocoa prices usually varied between $2,000 and $3,000.
Comrade Adeola Adegoke, president of the Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria, stated, “People are entering the cocoa industry at all levels… to ensure they also enjoy the current price.”
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