MILAN – According to National Cocoa and Coffee Board (NCCB), Cameroon had shipped 146,417 tonnes of cocoa beans by end-April since the start of the 2013/14 season in August, as opposed to 199,147 tonnes (-26.5%) during the same period the previous season.
Cameroon exported 3,043 tonnes of beans in April, down from 3,207 tonnes in March and 5,849 tonnes in the same month of 2013, the data showed.
According to the National Cocoa and Coffee Board (ONCC) and the Inter-professional Organisation for Cocoa and Coffee (CICC), this downturn in exports is itself demonstrative of the mid-season slump in production is the result of bad weather conditions.
But CICC sources said that other factors, such as illegal sale of the cocoa beans, had contributed to the significant drop.
Within the framework of the programme to clean-up the cocoa and coffee sales in Cameroon, the CICC has recently announced that, as of the next season, it will be providing exporters with magnetised cards. According to the cocoa and coffee sector, this innovation aims to limit the sale of beans and berries which skews the statistics and pauperises producers.
According to Business Cameroon, the new “fraud-proof” IDs, which will be provided to exporters at the start of the next season by request will be the only proof of regularised status for cocoa-coffee buyers, authorising them to engage in the purchase of beans and berries in Cameroon.
In Cameroon, the world’s fifth cocoa producer, the cocoa production involves 400,000 families and represents 28% of the overall value of non-oil exports but accounts for only 2% of the gross domestic product (GDP).
