Nigeria's 'cocoa boys' swap the city for the farm as prices rise

STORY: This is Ikom, a cocoa-growing heartland successful southeastern Nigeria.

And its been experiencing an influx.

Driven by rising prices, a cohort of mostly men person been switching their careers to farming.

They're known arsenic "cocoa boys"

"If you’re calling maine a cocoa boy, I volition judge gladly."

Mark Bassey near his occupation arsenic a aesculapian laboratory idiosyncratic to go a grower successful his ancestral home.

"When you perceive astir this cocoa, determination is this mentality, this knowing that comes into you that those guys are large boys."

The Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria, which represents smallholder farmers, says it saw its rank summation by much than 10,000 successful 2023-2024.

:: Assin Foso, Ghana

That's arsenic a driblet successful output from the world's 2 biggest cocoa exporters, Ghana and Ivory Coast, caused planetary prices for the cocoa constituent to spike.

They've risen, according to the International Cocoa Organization, oregon ICCO, from up to $2,500 per metric ton successful 2022 to astir $11,000 successful December 2024.

And that's created an accidental for radical similar Anyoghe Akwa.

He near Ikom arsenic a young antheral to survey civilian engineering. Now he's back.

"I haven't near civilian engineering, I emotion it. But I person much involvement successful cocoa present due to the fact that it's generating, per annum, it’s generating much wealth for me."

When Akwa near a container of cocoa beans would merchantability for betwixt $15 and $20.

He says past twelvemonth helium harvested 4 bags, which each sold for betwixt $500 and $750.

The merchantability of 1 bag, helium added, matched his yearly wage arsenic a civilian engineer.

According to the ICCO, Nigeria is the world's 4th largest cocoa shaper - though its output is acold down Ghana and Ivory Coast.

To boost the assemblage the authorities has been handing retired escaped seedlings.

That's alongside factors similar caller cocoa strains that carnivore effect wrong 18 months, and, of course, the influx of caller farmers.

Rasheed Adedeji is manager of probe and strategy astatine the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria.

"So putting each these things together, by now, we judge Nigeria cocoa accumulation level would person doubled."

However, a large summation successful output is not being reflected successful authoritative figures.

Adedeji said 1 crushed is that a important proportionality is smuggled retired of Nigeria each year.