Ondo State

This is the backbone of the state economy is agriculture as the dominant employer of labor and providing income for over 70 percent of the inhabitants. The favorable climactic conditions give boost to it.   Agricultural produce in the state includes tree crops such as cocoa, oil palm, rubber, cashew and kolanut; arable crops such as cassava, yam, maize, rice, sugarcane and fruit crops such as pineapple, citrus, mango, pepper and tomato. However, Ondo State’s main revenue yielding crops are cocoa and oil palm. Cocoa is the highest revenue earner for Ondo State which is the leading cocoa producing state in Nigeria (accounting for over 40 percent8 of the Nigeria’s annual cocoa output). Cocoa beans are cultivated in the state by individual farmers who sell their produce to registered cocoa merchants. The cocoa merchants who achieve bulk quantities by dealing with numerous farmers then sell the cocoa beans to processing companies within the state and export them to other states and/or countries mainly by road using lorries and trucks. Most of the cocoa cultivated in Ondo State is presently exported in its raw form (cocoa beans) with no value added as there are few cocoa processing companies.

Oil palm is the second highest revenue earner for the state through the sale of unrefined oil palm fruit and processed oil palm products which include palm oil, palm kernel oil and spices.

The state’s other cash crops include cassava, maize, rubber and cashew However, there are few industries here to exploit these resources to produce value added products. Owing to its location along the Atlantic Ocean and the presence of prominent rivers such as the Owena, Ala, and Oni Rivers, Ondo State presents tremendous potential for its fishing industry. The creeks and coastlands in the state are also known for their richness in prawns, lobsters and stock fish.