It dropped from 34,510,644 in November 2011 to 17,803,252 in January 2012.
Cocoa exportation in Cameroon has been dwindling in recent months. Statistics from the National Cocoa and Coffee Board (NCCB) indicate an 11 per cent drop in December 2011. The quantity exported has been constantly declining since November 2011. From 34, 510,644 in November 2011 to 32,514,377 in December 2011 export further slumped to 17,803, 252 in January 2012. In the 2010/2011 cocoa season, the quantity exported moved from 39,987,906 in November 2010 to 40,078,078 in December 2010 and to 25,080,790 in January 2011. According to information furnished to Cameroon Tribune by, Akamba Ava Michele, Director of Control of Sale and Quality at NCCB, cocoa’s peak production period is usually in December but in the 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 cocoa seasons, the peak period was in November, forcing production to drop in December and consequently export.
Another reason for the drop in export was a drop in prices. “From the beginning of the cocoa season, there has been a significant drop in the prices. With this drop, farmers tend to speculate on when the prices will favour them before selling their produce”, NCCB information indicates. The price per kilogramme declined from FCFA 1, 412 in August, 1,360 in September, 1,217 in October, 1,202 in November to FCFA 1,059 in December 2011 almost the same price for January 2012. The drop in export is not also unconnected with the caterpillar attack on cocoa plantations in the South West Region and the outbreak of capsids (insects which feed on young branches of trees thus causing crop loss) in the Centre Region. Statistics show that the two regions account for about 80 per cent of Cameroon’s cocoa production. “Again this disease attack on cocoa crops must have sent the wrong signal to our clients, especially those abroad. From statistics we have now compared to the same period last season, August 1 to January 31, there is a drop of 24, 906 tonnes in exports,” NCCB holds.
Cameroon cocoa output hit an all-time record of 240,000 tonnes in 2010/11 season. Stakeholders had predicted a 250,000 tonnes in 2011/12 due mainly to cultivation of improved varieties but with the current crisis, NCCB is expecting between 195,000 to 200,000 tonnes in production this season. From the just-ended annual conference of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, government targets 600,000 annual production in 2020 with 100,000 tonnes to be processed locally. To get there, target is to regenerate old plantations and treat at least 75 per cent of cocoa plants by 2014, produce at least 108.8 million plants by 2017; as well as step up the financing of farmers.
