Tea: An Untapped Gold Mine for Nigeria’s Economy

The tea plant is an evergreen shrub or tree which produces shoots which can be harvested through guided pruning to maintain a plucking table. The leaf buds and the internodes of the plant are also plucked along with the leaves which are then processed and cured by various methods to produce an aromatic beverage in combination with hot or boiling water. This research work was carried out to publicize tea as an untapped gold mine in Nigeria. Tea is considered to be a foreign exchange earner which has created several million jobs in many producing countries where tea leaves are produced annually. The study seeks to uncover the level of tea production in Nigeria and the roles of tea farmers, tea companies, government as well as other stakeholders in the value chain. Tea plays an important role in poverty reduction, economic growth, food security and income generation in countries that engage in its production. Nigeria’s contributions to tea production have gone unnoticed by all and sundry. The government is yet to take seriously the economic benefit associated with tea cultivation and Nigeria is not recognized as one of the leading tea producers. Desk research was carried out using past published literature. The study areas were states where tea is being produced in Nigeria. The research unveiled the potential of Nigeria which could make her to be acknowledged as one of the leading producers of tea in the world considering the vast resources for tea production at the disposal of the country. The research established the fact that tea production is facing a lot of problems in Nigeria. These include climate variability in the form of adverse weather conditions which affect the yield as well as the quality of tea. There are also issues of trade policies and economic instability which affect tea producers, especially small farmholders. There are also problems associated with pests and diseases, labour issues, fluctuating prices, inadequate infrastructure, and limited access to finance. The volume and the price of tea consumed in Nigeria have been growing over the years. The reason for this may be attributed to the increased awareness of the health benefits of drinking tea among the populace. The tea subsector of Nigeria's economy is seen as an untapped gold mine in spite of the enormous resources such as land and favorable climate conditions to do that. It was, however, recommended that tea farmers should adopt climate-smart agriculture as a means to mitigate the effects of climate change on their crops. There should be the reintroduction of a marketing board especially in the tea sub-sector to see to the affairs of tea marketing in the country. The government could also encourage private and public partnerships on investments in building modern processing plants for tea processing.