Nigeria's cocoa production peaked in 2006 and has since faced fluctuations and declines
Nigeria's cocoa production has seen significant fluctuations between 1990 and 2022. While there have been periods of growth, such as the increase from 244k tonnes in 1990 to 485k tonnes in 2006, there have also been notable declines. Production hit a low of 203k tonnes in 1995 and faced other dips. Here is the quantity of cocoa produced in Nigeria since 1990.
Source:
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
After yielding 61.9 million tonnes, yams were valued at $25.4 billion in 2023, the highest among reported commodities.
With 62.7 million tonnes produced, cassava generated $9.1 billion, making it the second most valuable crop.
Okra ($818/t), tomatoes ($808/t), and pineapples ($753/t) earned the highest returns per unit despite smaller volumes (1.6–3.8 million tonnes).
Maize ($3.7 b, 11.1 m t), rice ($3.1 b, 8.9 m t), sorghum ($2.3 b, 6.4 m t), cowpeas ($1.2 b, 4.3 m t), and groundnuts ($0.9 b, 4.3 m t) form the backbone of production.
Egypt dominated African cotton production for decades, from the 1960s to the early 2000s, standing far ahead of other African countries in both volume and quality.
The early 2000s marked a major turning point, as West African countries — especially Burkina Faso and Mali — began to overtake Egypt in total production.
Burkina Faso emerged as the new cotton leader between 2005 and 2015, topping production in key years like 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, and 2012–2015, and later reclaiming the top spot in 2020 and 2022.
Mali built its cotton strength after 2015, becoming Africa’s number one producer multiple times, peaking at over 334,000 tonnes in 2019.
Benin and Côte d’Ivoire quietly closed the gap throughout the 2010s, consistently ranking in the top three, even though they didn’t dominate the number one spot.