YAOUNDE -  Cameroon’s cocoa exports rose nearly 27 percent year-on-year between the start of the cocoa season last August and May this year, to total 188,383 tonnes, the National Cocoa and Coffee Board (NCCB)‘s data showed. In May alone, Africa’s fourth-largest cocoa producer shipped 6,490 tonnes of raw cocoa, about a 33 percent increase over April’s shipment of 4,384 tonnes and a 186 percent increase over last May’s haul of 2,268 tonnes. Ten firms shipped out cocoa in May, led by Olam-Cam with 2,318 tonnes, followed by Telcar Cocoa Ltd with 1,946 tonnes and Cameroon Marketing Commodities (CAMACO) with 451 tonnes. Cameroon’s cocoa season runs from Aug. 1 to July 1. The main harvest is from October to January/February, followed by a light crop harvest period from April/May to June/July. The central African country’s cocoa output hit a record of 240,000 tonnes during the 2010/2011 season, but has fluctuated since due to pests, crop diseases and a prolonged dry season. The 2013/2014 season’s total output was 209,905 tonnes. Cameroon’s government is trying to encourage young people and women to grow the crop and to prevent illegal export to neighbouring countries, in the hopes of raising cocoa output to 600,000 tonnes by 2020.