About
600 participating farmers and stakeholders in cocoa business in Abia, numbering
over 2,000 comprising farmers, merchants, and exporters were targeted to
benefit from the workshop, which also had participants from Imo, Akwa Ibom, and
Cross River states.
Top of
the issues discussed bothered on various challenges facing cocoa export, for
which stakeholders were equipped with current standards and quality techniques
that conform to buyers’ requirements especially in the European Union market.
Concern
was expressed that Abia State, which ranked third among the 21 cocoa producing
states in the country, fell to the eight position, while Nigeria now ranked
fourth among the global major cocoa producing nations, and by this,
contributing only six per cent of the world’s expected 3.5 million tonnes of
dry cocoa beans.
As at
April 2017, cocoa output was 1,148,992 tonnes from Cote d’Ivoire; 835,466 in Ghana;
and 367,000 from Nigeria. Some of major players in agri-business had expressed
fears that Nigeria may lose up to N1trillion by Year 2020, if nothing is done
to grow the product massively.
Addressing
the workshop, the NEPC Chief Executive Officer, Abdullahi Sidi-Aliyu, represented by the Director, Product
Development Department, William Ezeagu,
said: “Nigeria is yet to explore her potential in cocoa
industry in the continent when compared with countries such as Cot d’Ivoire,
and Ghana.”
He
said it was this scenario that prompted NEPC’s readiness to partner with state
governments, NGOs, farmers, and cocoa exporters to work out programmes that
would create the desired value chain in the sector.
He
asserted that “Nigerian Cocoa has consistently remained
profitable for several decades and rated one of the best in the world because
of its flavor.”
Ezeagu
listed the challenges facing the sector to include low Cocoa prices, poor
productivity, and vulnerability to price down turns due to volatile commodity
markets, limited knowledge of new/efficient farming techniques, poor or lack of
organisational capacity among farmers’ groups, and poor pest control and many
others.
He
added that these “have continued to hamper Nigeria’s
ability to command fair market share from the product internationally,” adding,
“Nigeria’s earnings from cocoa and cocoa products
accounted for $338.17million in 2015, and $242.23million in 2016, which
amounted to 20.8 and 20.13 per cent respectively in the corresponding years.”
Abia
State Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu,
represented by his deputy, Ude Oko
Chukwu, declared the workshop open, noting that there was no better time
than now, to organise the workshop because of the downturn in the national
economy due to the dwindling global crude oil prices. (Guardian)
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