Nigeria was once a powerhouse in cocoa production, reaching its peak as the world’s second-largest
producer after Ghana in the early 1970s. However, this success masked a structural weakness: the
decline in new and replanted cocoa trees across the southwestern farming heartland, a problem
worsened by the spread of diseases and pests from the late 1960s onward. Consequently, production
stagnated from the late 1970s to the late 1980s. Today, despite recent increases, Nigeria’s output
remains low compared to its West African peers, Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana.
Against this backdrop, this book investigates the factors behind the slow growth of cocoa production in
southwestern Nigeria, the epicenter of the country’s cocoa industry, over the last forty-five years. It
argues that the primary cause was the limited scope and narrow goals of the First and Second Cocoa
Projects (1971-c.1984), which simply repeated the failures of earlier 1960s programs. The book also
outlines how a comprehensive, state-supported program offering technical and financial assistance for
replanting old farms with high-yielding, disease-resistant varieties could revitalize the sector. Finally, it
explores the potential of value addition to reshape the future of the Nigerian cocoa industry within the
broader context of economic diversification.

Ezekiel Walker is associate professor of history at the University of Central Florida.  His work has appeared in the Journal of Modern African Studies, African Economic History, and Africa Today.