Coffee growers in Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria, are struggling to reap from the cultivation of the cash crop amid global record prices and high demand that is making their peers in Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia smile to the banks.
Global coffee prices have nearly doubled to an all-time high in 14 months as adverse weather battered harvest in the two world’s largest producers – Brazil and Vietnam, causing a shortfall and cutting global supply of the beans.
On Tuesday, the price for Arabica beans, which account for most global production, topped $3.66/lb (a pound), having jumped nearly 15 per cent this year. Robusta coffee, a generally cheaper variety used mostly to make instant coffee, rose 0.9 percent at $5,609 a metric ton, according to Reuters.
Nigeria grows both the Arabica and Robusta coffee beans. A kg which is equivalent to (2.2 pounds) of Arabica which is mainly grown in the Mambilla and Jos Plateau sells between ₦5,000 and ₦10,000 depending on quality and negotiation.
A kilogramme of Robusta beans mainly grown in Kogi and Oyo sells between ₦3,000 and ₦5,000 in Nigeria, while a ton goes for an average of ₦4 million. The figure indicates that the Nigerian coffee farmer earns ₦4.4 million less than their peers in other coffee producing countries ($5,609 with ₦1,500/$, gives you ₦8.4 million -₦4 million).
“Nigerian farmers are not benefiting from the global coffee price rally,” Hassan Usman, president of the National Coffee and Tea Association of Nigeria, said in a response to questions.
“Local prices are not attractive and it has been a disincentive for us to grow more of the commodity,” Usman said.
Coffee, cotton and cocoa were the country’s main foreign earners in the 60’s and 70’s, he said, noting that the crop has suffered total neglect by the federal and state governments despite the country’s potential for commercial production.
“If truly we want to boost our non-oil, coffee, which is the most consumed commodity after crude oil, offers Nigeria the opportunity,” he said.
According to him, the sector lacks the structure to grow and attract investments. “You can see what Rwanda, Ethiopia, and Kenya are doing with coffee and tea production,” he added.
(BusinessDay)
