Cocoa rush: Farmers revive old trees amid price surge

Nigeria’s cocoa farmers are racing to plant more high-yielding seedlings to replace old trees while expanding their growing areas after a six-fold jump in prices this year.

This, according to the Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria, will help boost the country’s cocoa output in three years when they start fruiting.
Production may climb by 500,000 to 800,000 metric tons by 2026, Adeola Adegoke, national president of the Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria, said in an interview Wednesday. That would suggest a 132 percent rise from Nigeria’s 2022-2023 production estimates by the International Cocoa Association (ICCO).

“There are lots of investments going in the sector as we speak by farmers because of the record prices,” Adegoke said.

“Cocoa farmers are planting more seedlings and taking care of their old plantations so they can have better yields. Even those not growing cocoa have become emergency cocoa farmers,” he explained.

Currently, a metric ton of the commodity sells for an average of N11.2 million at the Matori warehouse in Oshodi, Lagos.