Many African countries can't grow apples naturally due to unfavourable climate and the required chilling hours.
Despite this, Africa's share of global apple output has grown from 0.66% (1962) to nearly 4% in 2022, averaging 2.3% over 60+ years. South Africa has been the biggest contributor, but Egypt, Morocco, and Algeria also play key roles, with the top four countries making up 96% of Africa's total production in 2022.
Since 1961, South Africa has led Africa in apple production, consistently topping the charts.
In 1961, China produced just 167,000 tonnes of apples, accounting for a mere 1% of global production.
Over the next six decades, this figure surged by 28,300%, reaching 47.5 million tonnes by 2022 and capturing 50% of global production — growing at an average rate of around 7.5% per year.
China's rise began with agricultural reforms in the late 1970s and gained momentum in the 1980s and 1990s.
These are the top ten apple-producing countries over the years.
From the early 1960s through the 1990s, Ethiopia's cattle population growth placed it at the forefront of African livestock rearers, holding the top position with millions of cattle.
This leadership continued into the 2000s, reflecting Ethiopia's robust cattle industry on the continent. Sudan managed to take the top position a few times, mostly around the 2000s.
However, Ethiopia quickly reclaimed the top spot. Nigeria's cattle population grew from about 6.03 million in 1961 to 20.9 million in 2022, claiming 6th position in Africa as of 2022.
Africa accounted for one-fourth of the global cattle population as of 2022.
Until 1976, Ghana was the world’s largest cocoa producer, with an average annual output of 410,000 tonnes. However, Ghana lost this lead when production fell to 277,000 tonnes in 1997, allowing Côte d'Ivoire and Brazil to overtake.
Since 1977, Côte d'Ivoire has led global cocoa production, increasing its output by 634%.
Nigeria’s cocoa production peaked at 485,000 tonnes in 2006, consistently ranking among the top ten producers.
From 1961 to 2022, Nigeria contributed about 7.3% to the global groundnut production, making it a key player in the sector. Alongside China and India, which also dominated production, these three countries accounted for 61% of the world’s groundnut supply.
In 2022, Nigeria led global production of root crops like yam, cassava, and taro, alongside nuts such as kola and karite, as well as grains like sorghum, with 61.2 million tonnes of yam and 60.8 million tonnes of cassava.
Nigeria was once a global leader in palm oil production, but it has been overtaken by Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Colombia.
Indonesia, in particular, has seen a 34,018% increase in production since 1961, reaching 49.7 million tonnes by 2021.
In 2022, yams topped the list of over 44 agricultural products in Nigeria, with 61.2 million tonnes valued at $25 billion, making Nigeria the leading producer of yam globally.
Cassava followed with $8.8 billion, and maize ranked third with $4.5 billion. These crops underscore Nigeria's agricultural strength.
Asian countries dominated the global palm oil market in 2021.
Indonesia and Malaysia accounted for 67.8 million tonnes out of 80.7 million tonnes produced.
Smaller producers like Nigeria (1.4 million tonnes) and Guatemala (0.8 million tonnes) had modest contributions.
