Think Agribusiness! Think Nigeria! Think Pineapple!

Pineapple (Ananas comosus) is among the important horticultural fruit crops. It is an

economic crop that has encouraging potentials for foreign exchange earnings. It is highly
profitable and ranked one of the crops with the most potential in the international market
(Adegbite et al, 2014). Pineapple is cultivated mainly for its fruit, which is consumed fresh,
canned, or juiced. The fermented juice of the fruit is used to make vinegar and alcoholic
spirit, while the covering and other wastes from the fruit are used as livestock feed. It is
also used as an ingredient in a variety of foods, including pizzas, condiments, sweets,
savouries, cakes, pastries, yogurt, punch, and ice-cream. Pineapple, the second most
important harvested tropical fruit after bananas, contributes to over 20% of the worlds
production of tropical fruits (Coveca, 2002).
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, the worlds highest
producers of pineapple are, Thailand, Philippines, Brazil, China, India, Nigeria, Kenya,
Indonesia, Mxico, and Costa Rica. The US leads the demand of world fresh/juice/canned
pineapple and France, Japan, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Canada, Spain, England, Korea,
Netherlands, Singapore, also share in the world supply. The pineapple trade has nearly
doubled in the last 10 years. One pineapple in two is now grown for sale on the export
market. With an increased consumer demand for fresh pineapple and juice totaling nearly
30 billion pounds a year, the pineapple export industry has developed into a complex
supply chain.
Costa Rica has made a remarkable rise and over the last 10 years has developed
into a major exporter to countries like Belgium, Netherlands, United Kingdom and Italy in
which most of this other countries are also re- exporters. Some developing countries that
supply pineapple to the world market include Cameroon, Cote dIvore, Ecador, Honduras,
Ghana, Benin and Togo.
Nigeria is ranked 7th on the list of world producers, as well as the leading
pineapple producer in Africa with a production of 1,400,000 metric tons of fresh pineapple

having the largest land area of about 180, 000 hectare for pineapple production in the
world and yield of 77778 tons/ha (FAOSTAT, 2011). Although Nigerias position on the list
of world pineapple producers is encouraging, majority of the harvested produce is wasted
due to production ineffectiveness, post-harvest losses, and low level of technology to enable
processing of quality pineapple product. Despite our position and potential in pineapple
production in the world and the enormous economic advantages we have over the crop,
Nigeria has the lowest productivity of 7 tons/ha when compared with the other nine top
producers in the world thereby, contributing a small share (5%) of the world pineapple
production (FAOSTAT, 2010).To increase the value of the pineapple produce and guide
against low income, there is a need to process the produce, which will increase profitability.
When life gives you lemons, sell them and buy a pineapple. Think Agribusiness! Think
Nigeria! Think Pineapple!