Cocoa: Nigeria faces sanction

cocoa

*Agric, Trade ministers promise rescue

*FACAN, CAN enumerate benefits

The membership of Nigeria in the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) may soon be withdrawn for low production performance even as the Government has been struggling to diversify the economy through Agriculture.

This was disclosed by the Executive Director, International Cocoa Organization (ICCO), Dr. Jean-Mar Anga during his visit to the minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh in Abuja, recently.

Anga who came in company of director, African Export-Import, Bank, Mr. Kofi Adomakoh, and members of Federation of Commodity Association (FACAN) and Cocoa Association of Nigeria (CAN) said that the present annual output of Nigeria is 190,000 metric tons which is a far cry from the potential capacity if production along the value chains are encouraged.

Although the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) Chief Audu Ogbeh has promised that the needful would be done to avert the removal by seeing Mr. President on the matter.

He then asked both FACAN and CAN to come up with action plan towards positive drive of the produce along nine others.

A Director,Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment, MrsOpe Ewe in her review of the situation put the annual cocoa production in Nigeria at 350,000 ton,and fourth in the world as this figure seems not in tandem with ICCO rating of the sixth position of the nation with Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Cameroon and Ecuador leading .

MrsOpe Ewe who was among the ICCO team that visited the minister said that a letter of agreement on the better repositioning of cocoa crop is already on the table of the President Mohammudu Buhari for ascent, and solicited a support for his Trade and Investment minister towards encouraging the President to sign so as to avert our membership removal from the comity of the world cocoa producing nations.

This position was corroborated by both the FACAN and CAN presidents as they posited that the past neglect to agriculture in the country had hindered the development of the nation’s economy with many infrastructure dilapidated saying Nigeria can do much better if more rigorous effort is deployed to the crop value chains for wealth and job creation for the youths.

FACAN President, Dr. Victor Iyama lamented  the state of the agricultural production that has gone so low due to government’s neglect of the sector saying proactive policy drive on ten agricultural crops can bail out Nigeria from her present economic predicament with provision of efficient infrastructure like they have in Ecuador.

Dr. Iyama added that majority of the cocoa pods given out by government in the past never got to nursery as there was no monitoring like the ones given to CAN which was well monitored for multiplication stressed that the new improved cocoa varieties can grow in Kaduna and many other parts of the country, adding Nigeria can grow one million tons in just two years as the crop can be grown in about twenty nine states as majority crops can now grow in different ecologies of the country. 

Speaking also, the CAN president, Mr. SayinaRiman who appreciated the present level of government interaction with private sector pointed that more government support to cocoa productivity at all the value chains would attract foreign grants and interventions added that youths need to be encouraged into farming to replace the older people.

Mr. Riman equally lamented on the dying condition of many processing companies, low level of cocoa consumption and fertilizer utilization that enable cocoa tree plants to retain water in the bodies for better fruits production saying that “there are lot of grants other countries are enjoying on cocoa but Nigeria cannot because we have not provided an enabling environment”

The Agriculture Minister who attentively listened to the plight of private stakeholders in the cocoa sub-sector however promised a very proactive action with directive that FACAN, CAN and Cocoa Processors of Nigeria should partner with the desk officer of the ministry with an aim of finding solution with presentation of an action paper as soon as possible.

Chief Ogbeh promised to ensure that Nigeria is not removed from ICCO by doing everything possible to see President Buhari on the matter saying farmers in Nigeria could only make small amount of money from the large chunk of dollar opportunity in both coffee and cocoa world market.

 The Minister however ordered that FMARD cocoa desk and CAN should partner on monitoring and enlightenment as he promised that the ministry would look for money to carry out the exercise towards ensuring development of the crop for productivity saying “We will work to ensure that Nigeria is not removed from ICCO. The 70 billion dollar of world trade opportunity in coffee and cocoa, it is only 6 billion that get to small holder farmers“