The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Mohammad Abubakar, has said that the country is working towards becoming number one cocoa producing nation in the world, with the projected increase in cocoa production from the present 340,000 tones to 500,000 tones by 2024.
The minister, who spoke when the Executive Director, International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO), Mr Arrion Michel, visited him yesterday, June 7 in Abuja, recalled that Nigeria is currently ranked number four among cocoa-producing countries in the world.
He assured that Nigeria could achieve an increase in cocoa production based on the present drive of the Federal Government and relevant stakeholders towards the utilisation of improved varieties.
“Recently, Nigeria has made a remarkable move to join the Living Income Differential (LID) initiatives which were established by Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana in 2019 which aims at guaranteeing the livelihood of smallholder farmers through LID of $400/ton of cocoa beans sold.
”The two countries are benefiting while Nigerian cocoa farmers are at a disadvantage of this benefit due to unregulated and liberalised cocoa industry in the country.”
Dr. Mohammed Abubakar said that the interactive meeting between the Nigerian delegation and the Ghana cocoa board had yielded a positive result with the recent approval by the ministry to establish the National Cocoa Management Committee (NCMC).
“The committee will consist of all relevant stakeholders in the Nigerian cocoa industry, develop a framework for the regulation and monitoring of all activities in the cocoa sector in order to achieve transparency, traceability and sustainability,” he said.
He said that the NCMC would be powered by legislation through the National Assembly to give the process legal backing.
The minister pledged that the ministry would implement the LID system as the country strives to take cocoa production to a new height.
Earlier, Michel thanked the minister for his hospitality and revealed that Africa produces about 80 per cent of cocoa “but the price is determined in Europe and there is a need to address the issues of market force.”
“Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana and Ecuador are the major producers of cocoa while Nigeria is the fourth producer of the product, saying that the product is a key to small holders farmers in many countries.”
Source: NAN.
