Nigeria’s cocoa output has been projected to drop by at least 20% this season as efforts by producers to curb the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cocoa production and harsh weather conditions increase the likelihood of a poor harvest.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) had stated in a report that the pandemic could cause agricultural yields to fall due to the limited access to inputs for crop production.
The president of the cocoa association, Mufutau Abolarinwa, who gave this worrisome harvest situation of the commodity during a telephone chat with Reuters, said that output for the last 2019/20 season declined by an estimated 250,000 tonnes.
This is lower than the association’s forecast of 305,000 tonnes and the International Cocoa Organization’s forecast of 260,000 tonnes.
According to him, the producers are expecting a poor harvest by November and this will invariably reduce export volumes during the season.
The cocoa producer/exporter lamented that “for the past seven weeks there has been no substantial rain in the cocoa regions.”
Abolarinwa said further that though low rainfall between April and June helped the bean count to rise to 270 grams from 230 grams, but that it was not sufficient to boost new pod formation.
According to crop scientists, cocoa trees need a delicate balance of rain and dry weather to optimize their yields as rain shortfall leads to withering of the leaves and just as excessive rainfall makes them susceptible to insects or fungal black pod disease.
Farmers and commodity experts had earlier cautioned that the COVID-19-triggered prolonged lockdown of the country would adversely affect agricultural productivity across the value chains as farmers were unable to import inputs, while drier weather has hindered pod formation.
Nigeria is the world’s fifth largest producer of cocoa.
