Processing and Marketing Risk Factor of Cocoa Industry in Nigeria

Cocoa (theobroma cacao) is cultivated mainly for the cocoa beans which can undergo further treatment into various products which includes cocoa powder, liquor, butter and cake. The major challenges experienced by cocoa industries are inconsistency in production, low yield, pest and disease infestation, high cost of acquiring equipment, increase in production sustainability when considering modified varieties, cost of managing crop, organizing chain and cost of quality. This research aim at studying the process of cocoa beans production in other to provide suitable solution for sustainability of the production process. An evaluation method was applied to the analyzed the various processing steps involved in production stage and the plant layout before assessing the marketing risk factors. The result from the evaluation shows that price fluctuation has the highest ranked followed by processing risk factors, due to negligence of majority of cocoa farmers in maintenance and scheduling operation on their machines using kruskal-wallis test. This study identified risk factors, made comparison and proffer solutions to majority of uncertainties common with processing and marketing of cocoa in Nigeria, as well as the detailed steps and the plant layout in other to boost the standard and morale of every individuals considering cocoa processing across any part of the country. Structuring and developing cocoa beans market will help to reduce global prices fluctuation on the international markets and which will enhance the marketing framework.