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Kola as an Indispensable Article of Trade in West Africa

This study examines the origin of kola-nuts trade and the indispensability of kola-nut trade in West Africa. Desk research was carried out using past published literature. The study established the fact that kola nut production was indigenous to the West Africa Forest and pinpointed the actual origin of kola-nut especially Cola nitida to be along the western coast of Africa from Sierra Leone to the republic of Benin. On the other hand, the areas of Ijare and Idanre in Ondo State of Nigeria are currently believed to be the places where Cola acumunata originated. The dominant variety of kola-nut grown in Western and Eastern parts of Nigeria was cola acumunata and Cola verticillata. However, in terms of production, before the 19th century the production of cola nitida was limited to the forests west of the Volta River in Ghana. Both linguistic and ethnographic data were used to trace the origin of kola-nut and developed a chronology with regard to the origins and trade routes for kola-nuts. The research work however established the importance of kola-nut production and trade to the economies of West Africa countries where they are produced and traded. It was however recommended that considering the indispensability of kola-nut trade to West Africa particularly Nigeria, the government should take proactive steps to increase the scope of production and trade of this crop in order to improve the livelihoods of kola-nuts farmers and traders as well as increase it contributions to the national economy.