Timber and Wood Export from Nigeria Explained

Timber and processed wood products are a traditional Nigerian export — but one shadowed by a real deforestation debate, so sustainable sourcing matters. Where traded legally it earns dollars, linking it to the naira via the exchange rate.

From farm to export

• Farming and harvest — harvested under (tightening) forestry rules.
• Processing — sawn, treated and worked into products.
• Export — processed wood sold abroad, in dollars.

Why dollars matter to farmers

Processed wood earns far more than raw logs, and legal, sustainable sourcing is the live issue as policy tightens. Global prices are in dollars, so the exchange rate runs through earnings — the same as bamboo and rattan. Export finance can fund compliant operations.