COCOA AND PLANTAIN BUSINESS (Guide) Nov. 2015 | Page 4

A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN COCOA & PLANTAIN FARMING BUSINESS

By: Micheal B. A.

INTRODUCTION
COCOA PLANTATION BUSINESS
Nigeria’s biggest agricultural export is full of beans. Cocoa was first introduced to
Nigeria in 1874. Nigeria became one of the world producers of cocoa from 1960. In
1960, Nigeria became the second largest producer after Ghana, producing about
200,000 metric tons on annual basis. Most of the developmental projects in the
Western region of Nigeria were financed from cocoa income by the then Western
region government.
However, the decline in production started with the advent of crude oil when most
plantations were abandoned. After petroleum, cocoa is the country’s most important
export – before independence, cocoa generated 90% of Nigeria’s foreign exchange
earnings. Eclipsed these days by oil as the country’s major export, Nigeria still
produces 300’000-350’000 tonnes of cocoa a year, most destined for consumption
abroad – the country exports about 96% of its cocoa crop. Cocoa exports for
October-March 2009/10 were up 31% on the previous year, helped by good weather
conditions and improved quality in stock in the growing regions. Fourteen of Nigeria’s
36 states grow cocoa: Abia, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Ekiti,
Kogi, Kwara, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo and Taraba.
STAKEHOLDERS AND PROGRAMMES FOR GROWTH
Despite cocoa’s importance in the years before independence, the sector was
allowed to decline after the oil boom of the 1970s and suffered for decades from
under-investment. The cocoa industry was liberalised in 1986, when the government
abolished the Nigerian Cocoa Board, a government bureau that controlled the
marketing of cocoa, and deregulated the industry. The decline continued, however,
so to rehabilitate the industry, in 1999 the government set up the National Cocoa
Development Committee (NCDC). The NCDC promotes cocoa production and trade
in cooperation with the various growers’ agencies operating in the industry, like the
Cocoa Association of Nigeria (CAN), the Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria
(CFAN) and the Cocoa Growers Association of Nigeria (COGAN).
The Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN) is another major stakeholder in the
sector: established in 1964 as a government parastatal, the Institute conducts
research on cocoa, distributes seedlings to farmers and trains growers in modern
agricultural practices as well as in business development skills. Cocoa is a crop
mostly grown for its uses. It is of high demand because it can be use in making cocoa
butter, cocoa powder, cocoa liquor, soft and alcoholic drinks, jam, marmalade,
soaps, mulch, animal fee