Yemisi Izuora
The Federal Government is taking steps to return Nigeria as a major cocoa producer and has challenged farmers to come up with an initiative that will create production avenues across the country.
The government says the new initiative will make Nigeria Africa’s largest cocoa producer and exporter soon.
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, while inaugurating the Cocoa Re-launch Committee with Dr Olayiwola Oluwole as Chairman in Abuja said the government is determined to realise the ambition within the shortest time.
He said he was confident in the committee’s ability to move Nigeria to the top from its current seventh position in world cocoa producing countries’ ranking.
According to the minister, In-house here we can say is a shame for us to be number seven on the list of cocoa producers in the world, but we must reverse it to be at the top and that is why we are here. This is the time to do it and no other time than to do it now.
Cocoa can be grown in many parts of the country. We are going to have cocoa relaunch campaign in March at Ondo State, and we want all cocoa farmers from cocoa producing states to be present.
We cannot afford to remain seventh cocoa producing nation. We are going to take over from Cote D’Ivoire as the largest cocoa producer in the world.
We can earn huge foreign exchange from cocoa because oil and gas have done damage to our economy and we have to go back to agriculture to rescue the economy.
You have to come up with materials that could be used for cocoa production because cocoa can be grown in many parts of the country and presently there are 27 states that can grow cocoa. The cocoa farmers need to be enlightened on what they could do to improve on what they have been doing in the industry.
The Minister also charged the committee does not hesitate to come up with a useful approach to moving Nigeria’s cocoa producing capacity higher than it has been, and also stated that farmers are to be in charge of cocoa and not the government.
Responding, the committee chairman,Olayiwola Oluwole, said he is aware of the expectations from the members who are drawn from both the public and private sectors, and promised to work assiduously to ensure Nigeria recovers her lost glory of being the largest producer of the commodity in the world and also number one cocoa exporting country in the world.