Cocoa production increased by 9.8% in 2014-2015, to 232 530 tonnes

The 2015-2016 cocoa campaign which opened on July 7, 2015, in Ayos, was for a pool of production in the Centre Region of Cameroon.

The launch formally marked the end of the 2014-2015 campaign, which was closed on July 15, and was satisfactory, according to official statistics.

Based on the figures given by the National Cocoa and Coffee Board (NCCB), the production marketed during the last cocoa campaign peaked at 232 530 tonnes, an increase of 9.8% over the 209 905 tons produced during the 2013-2014 campaign.

On this overall production, 198 129 tons of the beans exported were 23 500 tonnes more (an increase of 11.8%) than during the previous campaign. As usual, the Netherlands remained the first destination of the Cameroonian cocoa with 73.21% of exports while 8.23 and 7.82% were exported to Belgium and Indonesia respectively.

As regards to the transformation, barely 20% of local production was crushed. Making 32 143 tonnes in total. Even if this activity remains dominated by industrialists, who transformed 32 112 tonnes, the volume of beans crushed by small-scale units increase over the years. In 2014 - 2015, they reached 31 tons against only 11 tons in the year 2013-2014.

The price by producers also took an upward curve. The highest price ranged between 1515 FCfa per Kg as compared to 1275 FCfa in the previous year while the lowest price was 800 FCfa, or 50 FCfa more than in the 2013-2014 campaign.

Close processing capacities which stagnated for years, even though there was an upturn, will be discussed during the campaign which officially starts on August 7, 2015. However, the quality of the Cameroonian cocoa remains worrying. Sources informed that more than 97% of cocoa exported during the 2014-2015 campaign was 2nd grade.