The region has been hit by intense heat and harmattan winds which have been unseasonably dry and strong.
Cameroon’s marketed cocoa production fell 20% in the 2025/26 season, reversing the previous season's growth and reflecting a significant decline in volumes available for export and local processing, the regulator said on Thursday.
Adverse weather has impacted production in West Africa in 2025/26 as the region has been hit by intense heat and by Harmattan winds, which have been unseasonably dry and strong, causing disease-weakened trees to drop their flowers.
Output in Cameroon, the world's fifth biggest cocoa producer, totalled 247,914 metric tons of cocoa during the 2025/26 season, down from 309,518 tonnes in the previous season, data released by the National Cocoa and Coffee Board (ONCC) regulator showed.
The cocoa season, which ran from August 1, 2025 to July 15, 2026, marked the lowest marketed production level in five years and ended a strong rebound recorded in 2024/25.
National targets
Back then, marketed output had risen to 309,518 tons from 266,710 tons a year earlier - surpassing the country's annual target of 300,000 tons.
The drop in production was mirrored in export performance.
Cocoa exports fell by 34.7% to 125,469 tons from 192,012 tons in the previous season.
Europe remained the dominant destination for Cameroonian cocoa, accounting for 84.6% of shipments, while Asia absorbed 14.2%. Africa accounted for 1.1% of exports.
Domestic processing also declined, with volumes delivered to industrial and artisanal processors dropping to 95,946 tons from 110,388 tons a season earlier.
Export earnings
ONCC data showed that cocoa stocks at the end of the 2025/26 season stood at 40,447 tons, compared with 13,947 tons at the end of the previous season.
Total available cocoa during the season, including carryover stocks, amounted to 261,862 tons.
Farmgate cocoa prices ranged between 700 CFA Francs ($1.23) and 4,300 CFA francs per kg during the season, compared with 3,210 CFA francs to 5,400 CFA francs per kg in 2024/25.
The decline in volumes weighed on export earnings. The free-on-board (FOB) value of cocoa exports and processed cocoa shipments fell 58.9% to 580.4 billion CFA francs, from 1.4 trillion CFA francs in the previous season.
Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, minister of trade, said there were indications of a possible further decline in supply of the beans in the 2026/27 season due to adverse weather conditions in West Africa.
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