Nigeria has the potential to surpass Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana’s cocoa production considering the downward slide in output from these two big producers as a result of pests and diseases, climate change, smuggling, miners’ activities, land degradation, and unfavourable cocoa economy governance.
The National President, Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria (CFAN), Comrade Adeola Adegoke, who disclosed this at the weekend, said with the youth population that is engaged in the industry, as well as the recent price regime, which benefits farmers, the future of the sector would further be brightened.
He said with the regulatory powers of the industry vested in National Cocoa management Committee (NCMC) dominated by the private stakeholders, everything is in place for Nigeria’s ascendancy.
According to him, “what Nigeria needs is to firm the control of our cocoa economy to increase the production and productivity of our smallholder cocoa farmers’ farms holdings through the provisions of subsidised farm inputs, credit facility, and capacity building, thereby improving their livelihoods.
“We must start to regulate and promote the Nigerian cocoa economy through the NCMC, where more investment into the sector will be guaranteed if the committee can achieve stable regulatory framework that controls quality, smuggling, pesticides control, extension management, research and development, traceability, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security & State Cocoa Producing Governments synergy, child labor eradication, deforestation control and National Cocoa Plan implementation.”
Adegoke said the NCMC must not get involved in buying and selling of cocoa beans except cocoa beans stabilisation support funding in future when necessary, especially when cocoa price nosedived downward beyond cocoa farmers economic capacity as being done in other developed countries on other commodities.
He added that the EUDR policy has called for a greater participation of cocoa stakeholders’ collaboration in order to achieve a national traceability system that guarantees a seamless transparency in our cocoa economy business with sustainability.
“Nigeria is moving towards a sustainable cocoa economy with a renewed hope agenda of the present administration.”
