Cocoa exports from Cameroon, the world's No 5 grower, hit 186,305 tonnes by the end of March from the start of the season in August, up 21 percent year-on-year, according to official figures on Friday. Some 2,215 tonnes were exported in March alone, according to the figures released by the Cocoa and Coffee Interprofessional Board and the National Cocoa and Coffee Board.
Cameroon shipped some 197,000 tonnes of cocoa during the full 2009-2010 season, down from a record 205,000 tonnes hit the previous year, and is targeting exports of more than 200,000 tonnes this season. Cameroon's cocoa development authority, SODECAO, said this week it would distribute 5 million high-yield cocoa seedlings to farmers this year as part of an effort to more than double output by 2015.