South West: Insecurity, smuggling blamed for drastic drop in cocoa production.

According to data released recently by the NCCB, the South West Region was at the lead in cocoa production in the country up to between the 2016-2017 season. Thereafter, and with the intensification of the socio-economic crisis, the region started losing ground, with the region´s share of beans sold falling to a mere 19.9% of overall national output during the 2024-2025 production season.

The NCCB insisted that violence and instability caused by separatist fighters have forced many farmers to abandon their plantations and flee to other parts of the country.

For the same reasons, Telcar Cocoa, which was the exclusive buyer for American company, Cargill, until the 2023-2024 season, has been forced to scale back its operations in the conflict-torn area. The company, which previously sourced up to 80% of its purchases from the South West Region, NCCB further revealed, relocated much of its team to safer parts of the country to escape the insecurity.

NCCB added that the region's production has also been impacted by smuggling into neighbouring Nigeria.

The South West Region’s cocoa sector further deteriorated during the 2021-2022 season, when Telcar Cocoa shifted its focus to the Centre Region. During that period, the company, controlled by Kate Fotso, finalised the acquisition of 100% of the cocoa assets of Ets Ndongo Essomba, a key producer in the Centre Region. This move helped the Centre Region consolidate its market share.

Centre Region makes hey as “sun shines”

The Centre Region is making hey while the sun shines, as it succeeds to replace the South West Region as Cameroon´s number one cocoa producing region.

According to NCCB, the Centre Region has already solidified its position as the country’s leading cocoa producer, and is now accounting for 45.8% of all raw bean purchases as shown during the 2024-2025 season. 

“This marks a major shift from the South West Region, which had dominated the sector until the 2016-2017 season,” according to data from NCCB.

The NCCB’s figures further revealed that the South West Region's share of bean purchases has fallen to just 19.9% in the 2024-2025 season. At the same time, the South West is now equally at risk of being surpassed by the Littoral Region, which recorded 18.9% of purchases during the same period—a difference of just one percent.

“This decline is a direct consequence of the socio-political crisis that has affected Cameroon’s two English-speaking regions, the South West and North West Regions, since late 2016,” NCCB ed 

With the escalation of the crisis since 2016, the NCCB states that the Centre Region's market share has continued to grow, while the South West Region’s has significantly continued to shrink. 

“The South West Region accounted for 31.2% of bean purchases in the 2021-2022 season, but its share fell to 19.9% by the end of the 2024-2025 season last July,” NCCB noted.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3554 of Thursday September 04, 2025