Cameroon exported 44,085 tonnes of raw cocoa beans in the season to end October, down slightly from the 48,171 tonnes shipped by the same time last year, statistics from the National Cocoa and Coffee Board showed on Thursday.

In the month of October, Cameroon shipped 22,577 tonnes, down from 28,316 tonnes for the same month in 2013, the data showed. The number of exporters in October rose to 20, up from 16 in September, with Telcar Cocoa topping the list with 6,471 tonnes, according to NCCB.

Farmers in all the four growing regions of the world's fifth largest cocoa producer have blamed the lower exports on heavy rainfall which prevented beans from drying. They said that some of the crop was also being lost to smuggling over the Nigerian border.

Cocoa is one of the main cash crops of Cameroon. The season runs from Aug. 1 to July 31 with the main harvest period from October to January/February and the low harvest period from April/May to June/July.