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Nigerian cocoa industry in a quandary
Nigeria
Sunday 17 February 2008
A longer-than-usual dry harmattan season in Nigeria's key south west cocoa farming zone has raised fears of sharp decline in the imminent light crop, the Cocoa Association of Nigeria (CAN) said on Friday. Flowers and developing cocoa pods have died in the last few weeks because lack of rainfall and humid weather in the region drained soil moisture needed to sustain them to mature for harvest from early April to September. The harmattan, named after strong dusty winds from the Sahara desert, is associated with high daytime temperatures and low rainfall. The season usually ends in January, but the prolonged dry spell forced an early end to the main crop. The crop needs a mix of intermittent rain and sunshine for a bumper harvest, but Afun Adegbulu, president of CAN - a grouping of growers, buyers and exporters - said the region has not seen rain for weeks, dimming any hope of a good harvest.
Adegbulu said when conditions are good he gets about five tons in light crop, but this year he thinks he will be lucky to harvest one tons. "There are no pods on the trees which are dying," he said by telephone from Akure, the capital of Ondo state which accounts for over 30 percent of Nigeria's cocoa output. A robust light crop, also known as mid crop, was expected to compensate for a decline in the 2007/08 main crop, which was hit by an outbreak of the fungal black pod disease in some farms in the south west before the start of the October to March season.
The shortfall pushed the upcountry price of Nigeria's graded cocoa beans up 15 percent to 270 000 naira ($2) per ton on average in the last month.
The CAN estimates the light crop in the world's number five cocoa grower comes in at between 50 000 and 60 000 tons when conditions are good and chemicals readily available to spray ageing and diseased trees.
The group, which had estimated that Nigeria's total output in the 2007/08 season should come in at around 300 000 tons, is yet to review its forecast. The government puts Nigeria's annual output at between 450 000 to 500 000 tons.
Nigeria has had no credible database since its cocoa sector was deregulated 22 years ago because liberalisation has made record-keeping more difficult, officials said.
Adegbulu said when conditions are good he gets about five tons in light crop, but this year he thinks he will be lucky to harvest one tons. "There are no pods on the trees which are dying," he said by telephone from Akure, the capital of Ondo state which accounts for over 30 percent of Nigeria's cocoa output. A robust light crop, also known as mid crop, was expected to compensate for a decline in the 2007/08 main crop, which was hit by an outbreak of the fungal black pod disease in some farms in the south west before the start of the October to March season.
The shortfall pushed the upcountry price of Nigeria's graded cocoa beans up 15 percent to 270 000 naira ($2) per ton on average in the last month.
The CAN estimates the light crop in the world's number five cocoa grower comes in at between 50 000 and 60 000 tons when conditions are good and chemicals readily available to spray ageing and diseased trees.
The group, which had estimated that Nigeria's total output in the 2007/08 season should come in at around 300 000 tons, is yet to review its forecast. The government puts Nigeria's annual output at between 450 000 to 500 000 tons.
Nigeria has had no credible database since its cocoa sector was deregulated 22 years ago because liberalisation has made record-keeping more difficult, officials said.
