Nigeria in World Ginger Trade: An analysis of performance from 2008 – 2012

This study assessed the performance of Nigeria in the world ginger trade using available secondary data from the United Nations commodity trade statistics. The trade performance of Nigeria was based on world ginger export characteristics, value of trade and quantity traded from 2008 to 2012 assessed on yearly and cumulative bases. The result indicates that during the five year period, Nigeria recorded an annual growth of 39%. But in the year 2011-2012, Nigeria lost in terms of price during this period by 24% despite the fact that the unit price for Nigeria ginger was higher ($2,463/ton) than the world average ($727). In terms of share in world exports, Nigeria contributed only 3.6% and listed on 6th position for ginger export. The world is paying prime price for Germany's ($3,758), UK's ($3,450) and Nigerian ($2,463) Ginger. Nigeria ginger during the period under review contributed a total of $115.564m on the basis of value to the world ginger value of $2401.756m representing a share of 4.81%. Cumulatively, a total of 51,483 tons of ginger was contributed by Nigeria to the world ginger market which is 1.35% of the world total (3,800,098 tons) during the period under review. This study revealed that Nigeria has over the years been an active participant in the world ginger trade and has contributed significantly to its growth. On the overall, the performance of Nigeria in the world ginger trade during the period under review cannot be described as blazing because the country has the largest area under ginger cultivation in the world and her ginger is one of the world’s best and highly valued in terms of unit price. It is therefore recommended that the ginger transformation program be sustained so as to boost local production and activate the ginger value chain for greater production, processing and marketing efficiency.Keywords: Ginger, export, trade, value, quantity, period, marke