Ikom, a pivotal cocoa-producing hub in Cross River State, is reeling from a dramatic decline in global cocoa prices, which has severely impacted farmers, traders, and the entire subnational economy. Globally, cocoa prices have plummeted by over 70 percent, dropping from record highs of over $12,500 and $12,900 per tonne in 2024 to approximately $3,613 per tonne, squeezing income margins and eliminating profits for local farmers.
Many farmers in Ikom and across Cross River, including areas like Etung, Boki, Obudu, Obubra, Biase, Odukpani, and lower Calabar, had borrowed heavily and expanded their cocoa farms in mid-to-late 2025, anticipating continued soaring prices. Reports now indicate widespread heavy losses since late 2025 and early this year, leaving farmers uncertain how to repay loans running into hundreds of millions of naira. Some are contemplating switching to alternative crops or abandoning cocoa farming altogether.
The euphoria of 2024 to early 2025 saw local cocoa prices reach N13,500 per kilogramme, a sharp increase from N2,500 in 2023. This led to significant, unplanned consumption investments by farmers in Ikom, the agricultural melting pot of Cross River. Many built new houses, bought household properties and cars, and took holiday trips, though often without diversifying their agricultural investments into other crops like oil palm.
The cocoa industry is a vital component of Ikom’s economy, with over 20 warehouses and numerous exporters operating in the area. The price decline has significantly reduced economic activity in the expanding border town, affecting traders, transporters, and other stakeholders. The Cross River Cocoa Processing Factory, built in 2017 at an estimated cost of N7 billion, remains abandoned. While its revival could create 5,000 jobs and generate an estimated $6.8 million annually, such a development appears distant.
Recently, the Nigerian government expressed intentions to revive the cocoa industry through investments in processing factories and farmer support. The Minister of State for Industry, Trade, and Investment, John Owan Enow, himself from Ikom, emphasized “the need for value-added processing to boost the economy” during a visit to the abandoned factory. However, no concrete actions have followed this statement.
The impact of the downward swing in cocoa prices on local communities is described as “significant and unprecedented.” Farmers struggle to cover input costs, with some virtually out of business due to lack of funds. Reduced farmer incomes and squeezed profit margins make it difficult to sustain livelihoods established in 2024-2025. Accessing credit has become challenging, exacerbating financial woes. The result is abandoned farms, leading to reduced cocoa production and economic instability. Women, who play a crucial role but often face limited access to land and funding, are particularly vulnerable. Blessing Amos, a farmer in Ikom, told our correspondent she is considering withdrawing her four children from school to work on farms, to be taught by a private home teacher.
The Cocoa Barometer, in a 2025 report, warned that soaring cocoa prices were not reaching most farmers. The biennial report noted a complex global cocoa industry, facing “bad, better, and with a lot of room for improvement.” Despite Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana dominating production and Nigeria emerging as a rising producer projected to deliver 350,000 tonnes in the 2024/2025 season, “the benefits of soaring prices have not reached most farmers.”
The report asserted, “Farmer poverty is at the root of virtually all problems in the cocoa sector, from deforestation to child labour and gender inequality.” It added, “Paying farmers fairly is both a moral and legal obligation, thanks to new human rights and environmental legislation. But political resistance in Europe is threatening the hard-won progress in regulation.” The report also highlighted that forward-selling mechanisms have delayed the impact of price increases for farmers, while yields suffer from aging trees, crop diseases, and erratic rainfall linked to climate change.
The Cocoa Barometer 2025 report also cautioned that high prices were driving new waves of deforestation, with farmers expanding into untouched forests to maximize profits—a trend observed in many Cross River cocoa areas. This could lead to oversupply and another price crash similar to 2016. Furthermore, the report pointed to ongoing human rights abuses, with 1.5 million children still working in hazardous conditions in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, and women largely excluded from profit-sharing and decision-making, a situation also prevalent in Cross River’s cocoa belt.
The report stressed that the absence of transparent farmgate pricing systems and limited accountability mechanisms continues to undermine progress. It called for collective action by governments, companies, farmers, and civil society to achieve systemic reform through fair pay, commitment to a living income for farmers, environmental protection via a global moratorium on deforestation linked to cocoa, and inclusive governance that ensures both men and women farmers are co-decision makers.
On its part, the Cocoa Association of Nigeria (CAN) advocates for government support to address the sector’s challenges. Flora Takim-Ndifon, president of the Ikom Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IKOMCCIMA), recently noted to Business A.M. that “the absence of enabling infrastructure in the town is a big minus. Ikom is self-driven, because it is poor or lacks infrastructure.”
