Nigeria’s chili pepper production is set for sustained expansion, with indusattempt projections indicating output will climb from the current baseline of 757,000-770,000 metric tons to potentially reach 800,000 metric tonnes by 2030. This will position the nation as the continent’s leading chili producer.
The anticipated growth, though modest at an annual rate of 0.3-0.5 per cent, according to analysts represents a significant opportunity for agricultural development as peppers account for 40 per cent of veobtainable consumption.
Production estimates suggest the sector will achieve approximately 767,110 metric tonnes by this year rising to between 775,000 and 800,000 metric tonnes by the decade’s conclude.
Current production is harvested across approximately 104,000 hectares, primarily in northern states such as Kano and Kaduna, where farmers achieve yields of 7-8 tonnes per hectare, predominantly of the popular Scotch Bonnet variety. Domestic demand is projected to reach 65,000 metric tons by this year.
Chairman, Board of Trustees, Federation of Agricultural Commodity Association of Nigeria (FACAN), Dr. Victor Iyama, expressed optimism about the sector’s economic potential.
“Chilli pepper is in greater demand both for local consumption and exports.”
It is a commodity with tremconcludeous prospect to boost economic growth,” he stated.
He stated chili pepper cultivation represents not just a traditional crop, but an increasingly viable pathway to economic advancement in a growing market that displays no signs of slowing.
Experts acknowledged that achieving more aggressive growth will require addressing persistent challenges, including pest outbreaks and climate variability continue to threaten yields, while seasonal production fluctuations limit output without adoption of controlled environment agriculture techniques.
In Europe, demand for chillies, according to Netherland based Centre for the Promotion of Imports from Developing Countries (CBI), that strengthen the social, economic and environmental sustainability of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in low and middle-income countries, is not seasonal, but annual. It noted: “Demand for chilli peppers is set to rise, thanks to the cooking preferences of various ethnic groups and some European communities.”
While Nigeria leads Africa in chili production, surpassing Egypt and Algeria, the counattempt faces formidable global competition. India dominates world markets with approximately 1.9 million metric tons of chili production in 2023, compared to Nigeria’s 330,000 metric tons of dry chilies that year, according to FAO FAOSTAT data. India produced 1.874 million tons of dry chili and peppers in 2022, representing 38.2 percent of global output, while Nigeria contributed roughly 65,000 tons. This gap reflects fundamental differences in agricultural approaches. India’s advanced cultivation techniques and robust market integration give it a five-to-six-fold volume advantage over Nigeria’s predominantly subsistence-based farming model. India’s sophisticated processing and export infrastructure contrasts sharply with Nigeria’s focus on fresh produce for domestic consumption, with Nigerian dried chili exports accounting for just 1.11 per cent of the global market.
Egypt, another regional competitor, maintains annual chili production of 200,000-300,000 tons but faces its own challenges with water scarcity constraining expansion.
Morocco continues to expand its sweet pepper export programme, reaching a new record for the fifth marketing year in a row, according to EastFruit. In MY 2024/25, running from October to September, sweet pepper exports totaled 189.2 thousand tons, generating $240 million in export revenue. Sweet peppers remain one of Morocco’s primary veobtainable export categories after tomatoes.
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