The Most Profitable Cash Crops In Nigeria

Nigeria is quite blessed with a lot of cash crops that are either used as a means of foreign exchange (exported) or consumed locally. It is no doubt that Nigeria is a blessed country, having up to hundreds of cash crops that can be used to develop the country if well managed.

Nigeria is always ranking in the 1st to 10th position in cash crops production in the whole world.

Despite our loss of focus in agriculture, Nigeria is still seen among the first 10 on the list. This means it will be very easy to pick up and rank number one in all aspects of agriculture.

To start any Cash Crop farming in Nigeria, It is required that you consider some factors that will determine the success of the farming.

Factors To Consider Before Farming Any Cash Crop

Variety:
Most crops have a lot of varieties that have different maturity periods, climate acceptability and so many other factors that will either affect the yield of the crop or its market potential.

Climate:
Not all farm products grow well in every location, this is because the climate requirement of every crop differs. Some crops like groundnuts, tobacco can withstand high temperature but not ever crop can.

Profit potentials:

If you are picking a cash crop you should run a background check on the profit potential of that crop. Not all crops are profitable in all locations.

Below are some potentially profitable crops in Nigeria.

Cocoa:

Nigeria is the 4th-largest producing country of cocoa products in Africa and is the 3rd-largest exporter of the crop in Africa.

Cocoa beans seed contains a lot of fats which are used to produce cocoa butter that is turned into chocolates that are converted through grounding to produce beverages.

Edo, Osun, Oyo, and Ondo are some of the producing states of cocoa In Nigeria.

Cashew:

Cashew farming is a very productive type of farming that produces two products at a time: the Cashew Apple and the Cashew Nut. The crop is widely consumed and it is grown in places like Imo, Enugu, Abuja, Niger and Kwara.

The cashew nuts are packaged and exported to other countries, while the cashew apples are used to make cashew juice or drinks.

Cotton:

Cotton is soft in texture and fluffy in nature. It falls under the family of Gossypium crops.

Cotton is grown in the Northern and Southern parts of the country in places like Kwara, Sokoto, Zamfara, Oyo, Ondo and many other states.

Cotton Crop used to be one of our major sources of foreign exchange as it was yielding good revenue for the country then through exportation. It has now given way to oil since the management required for it has been transferred to oil.

Notwithstanding, a lot of farmers in Nigeria still cultivate and produce Cotton on both small and medium scales. With this, cotton still maintains a position as one of the most profitable cash crops in Nigeria.

Coffee: Coffee as a cash crop has two widely grown species which are Arabica and Robusta. The coffee Arabica is a beverage crop that originated from Africa. States like Bauchi, Kwara, and Osun are good cultivators of the Coffee crop in Nigeria.

Oil Palm Production:

Nigeria is one of the most producing countries of oil palm farm products. Oil palm grows in abundance in that tropical area but can also do well in a high climate condition that has abundance of rainfall as well.

Oil palm is one of the most profitable cash crops because all of its parts have various areas of application (uses). However, it requires patience to grow oil palm because it takes over 3 years for the crop to get to maturity and starts bringing fruits.

Oil palm is grown in places like Delta, Cross rivers, Edo, Bayelsa, Ogun State and some others.

Kola nut:

Kolanut, also known as cola, is gotten from the kola tree which is cultivated in tropical rainforests of Africa like Nigeria. Kolanut has a major part to play in our country’s tradition. Despite the fact that Nigeria is ranked the number one in the production of kolanut, we only export 10% to other countries. Ogun, Kwara, and Osun States are wide producers of kolanut in Nigeria.