Nigeria is positioning itself to become Africa’s second commercial cloves producer, following in the footsteps of Tanzania, as a new nationwide cloves farming initiative prepares to enrol 74,000 farmers ahead of the 2026 wet season. The programme, coordinated by the Cloves Producers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria, spans all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and aims to unlock the economic potential of what has traditionally been a niche crop in the country.
Under the pilot scheme, each participating farmer will receive improved clove seeds and essential inputs to cultivate half a hectare of land, with the goal of driving significant foreign exchange earnings, job creation and rural economic empowerment. Organisers have described cloves as a tropical crop that can thrive across many regions of Nigeria, offering an alternative to staples and helping to diversify agricultural income streams.
The initiative is expected to generate new opportunities for youth and women in agribusiness, boosting incomes and creating pathways into export markets where demand for high-quality cloves, particularly in the food and pharmaceutical sectors, remains strong. Officials say this drive could position Nigeria as a major player in the cloves trade, shifting the country from being a net importer of the spice to a potential exporter on the continent.
In addition to economic benefits, the cloves programme is designed to strengthen agricultural training and knowledge transfer, with extension services and best-practice cultivation guides being rolled out to support farmers. Stakeholders emphasise that the move aligns with broader efforts to modernise Nigeria’s agricultural sector, increase crop diversification and reduce vulnerability to fluctuating global commodity prices.
If successful, the cloves initiative could become a model for future value-chain-based farming programmes, contributing to sustainability, increased rural resilience and long-term growth in Nigeria’s non-oil export earnings.
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