Victoria Mgbanwa
The Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria (CFAN) has raised alarm over the dwindling financial support for the cocoa industry, warning that without intervention, the sector’s recent growth could be jeopardized.
This was revealed in a letter signed by Adeola Adegoke, Director General of the Cocoa Roundtable Initiative (CORI) and National President of CFAN, addressed to President Bola Tinubu, CFAN leaders called for immediate government action to ensure the future sustainability of Nigeria’s cocoa production, which has seen a significant boost in recent years.
Highlighting the urgent need for funding to support the regulatory body, the National Cocoa Management Committee (NCMC).
The statement reads, “Mr. President should not forget that one of his promises during his campaign was to provide boards for some critical agricultural commodities which will not be involved in buying but developing and regulating such sectors of which cocoa should take preference as a leading FX provider and internal revenue generation in the country.
“Your Excellency, we believe the case of cocoa had been settled with the setting-up of the National Cocoa Management Committee, but has been so far hampered in operations in the last two years due to lack of funding to perform her statutory regulatory responsibilities and her legal status to transform into a board through the National Assembly legal backing,”
“It is our firm belief that Nigeria is on a path to greatness despite the excruciating economic consequences of your administration reform which some people referred to as T-Pain but we rather see it as T-Gain and T-Sustainability.
“However, Cocoa Roundtable Initiative whose mission is to work towards the sustainability of the cocoa economy of Nigeria and in particular, the transformation of the livelihood of our cocoa farmers through rural prosperity is bringing the attention of President Bola Tinubu on the need to fund and transform the National Cocoa Management Committee, saddled with the responsibility of regulating the cocoa economy of Nigeria into a board,”
The association further requested that the government subsidize inputs for farmers to enhance productivity, which would increase income for farmers and generate more revenue for the country. They also urged the President to push for legal backing from the National Assembly to transform the NCMC into a fully operational board, which would have the legal authority and funding necessary to regulate the sector effectively.
Adegoke said, “The good prospect of this development in the sector is in the stabilisation of the price of cocoa which is not less than 10 million naira per metric tonne in the last one year.
“Also, NCMC was put in place in August 2022 by the past administration due to pressures mounted by the smallholder cocoa farmers of Nigeria under Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria that condemned the total free market of the cocoa industry without regulation in consideration of the sector’s contribution to the economy of Nigeria”.
Adegoke acknowledged the challenges facing Nigeria’s economy under the current administration, but expressed optimism that with the right support, the cocoa industry could continue to thrive, benefiting both farmers and the nation as a whole.
“The challenges confronting the smallholder cocoa farmers due to low production, productivity – post harvest challenges which affect quality and the need to come up with the necessary framework on EUDR implementation which poses future challenges to our global cocoa market future.
“We urge Mr. President, Governors of cocoa-producing using States and lovers of the Nigerian cocoa industry to look into the funding and legal framework support to NCMC through the National Assembly in order to save the industry from regulatory lapses that could undermine the present gains of high price of cocoa beans that is not less than 10 million per metric tonnes that our cocoa farmers are currently enjoying and Nigeria determination to become the highest cocoa producing country in West Africa before 2027,” he added.
