COFFEE AND COCOA PRODUCTION IN AFRICA: A TREND ANALYSIS

Abstract

The Sub-Saharan region of Africa is very dominant in the production of economic beverage crop such as cocoa, coffee, tea, which are largely grown for export. This study was carried out to evaluate theproductivity of coffee and cocoa in Africa. Trend analysis was carried out to assess the performance of cocoa and coffee production in the continent for a period of forty five years (1976-2020). The study observed that coffee production in Africa did not improve significantly during the period. The highest coffee production in the continent was between 1991 and 2000 with an average of 1254127 tonnes, while the lowest production was observed between 2011 and 2020, with an average of 1138444 tonnes. This relatively stable but low figures was attributed tolow coffee yield across the continent. However, aggregate cocoa production in Africa has been on the rise throughout the period under study. Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana were the only two cocoa producing countries with sustained increase in production over the years. The observed rising cocoa production in the continent was adduced to increase in cultivation areas, new cocoa cultivars development and increasing grower prices. Despite the rise in cocoa production in the continent, farmers are still faced with the issue of low cocoa yield. The study recommends the need to prioritize new high yielding coffee and cocoa varieties in the respective producing nations.