… Cocoa export can address Nigeria’s forex deficit
By Luminous Jannamike
The Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria, CFAN, on Thursday, said Nigeria loses N60 billion annually to the non-existence of Living Income Differential (LID) for producers of the cash crop in the country.
According to the organisation, Nigeria has the potential to reclaim its position as the second largest producer of cocoa in the world and solve its foreign exchange woes through a mechanism that encourages help producers earn a living wage.
CFAN’s President, Mr. Adeola Adegoke, stated these during a workshop jointly organized in Abuja by the University of Ibadan and the Agricultural Policy Research in Africa (APRA) with the theme: ‘Cocoa Commercialization in Nigeria: Issues, Prospects and Policy Requirements’.
He lamented that because of the global oversupply of cocoa, many producers in the country received a woefully low share of cocoa revenues; hence live in extreme poverty.
Adegoke noted that the cocoa sectors in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire establish fixed ‘floor’ price of cocoa annually and applies a ‘differential’ of US$400/tonne above the floor price to increase income for cocoa producers to help them achieve a living income .
He said, “In the 1960s, we were the number two highest producers of cocoa in the world. We were producing 590,000 metric tonnes and with this potential, the Western Regional Government was being run with this money.
“As of today, Ivory Coast is producing about 2.5 million metric tonnes of cocoa. Ghana is producing about 800,000 – 1million tonnes of cocoa; but when you look at what Nigeria is producing side-by-side with our land resources and number of cocoa farmers that we have, it is clear, we can surpass what these two countries are producing combined. That is why, as smallholder farmers, we have been able to analyze the challenges responsible for our low productivity.
“In Ivory Coast, they produce nothing less than 800-1000kg of cocoa per hectare, but in Nigeria, it is an average of 350-400kg per hectare. This is unacceptable because it made Nigerian cocoa farmers poorer.
“In Ghana today, each farmer collects $400 on each tonne of cocoa after the fall price. Same in Ivory Coast, and that’s why we believe that Nigeria must begin to collect Living Income Differentia (LID). The refusal to collect it makes us lose N60 billion annually,” he said.
Adegoke stressed the need for the government and stakeholders to strengthen mechanisms that would increase Nigeria’s guaranteed cocoa farm gate price to encourage production.
“The indices today, especially in the last two months, show that cocoa is next to oil in terms of foreign exchange revenue in Nigeria. It means that the foreign exchange deficit we are having could be solved through the cocoa economy,” he stressed.
The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture Colleges, Universities and Institutions, Hon. Munir Dan Agundi, lamented the non-implementation of the country’s cocoa policies.
“We are not going to leave policies at the ministry level anymore without being backed by the law,” he stated.
The Country Lead and Principal Investigator of APRA (Nigeria), Dr. Adeola Olajide, called for the formulation of Nigeria’s cocoa utilization and consumption policy, adding that we must consume our own cocoa.
VANGUARD NEWS NIGERIA
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