Don't Miss


Home   >   Business   >   Industries   >   Agriculture   >   National Cocoa production to hit 500,000 MT by 2015

National Cocoa production to hit 500,000 MT by 2015

By on October 11, 2012

Cocoa Beans

The Federal Government has made plans to double cocoa production from 250, 000 to 500, 000 metric tonnes by 2015.

This development was revealed by the Minister of Agriculture Dr Akinwumi Adesina, while delivering a keynote address in Ibadan during the 1st International Cocoa Conference.

Represented by Dr Talabi Odeyemi, the Minister said, to meet the said target, the Federal Government would distribute 3.6 million hybrid cocoa pods to farmers, which would lead the cultivation of over 114,000 hectares of cocoa.

The Minister said, the good news is that, the new hybrid cocoa pods were already developed for the Nigerian farmers, he also advised the private sector to come collaborate with the government in tapping the opportunities embedded in cocoa production.

Nigeria has the potential to make it huge in cocoa farming, and the crop should be one of Nigeria’s major exports, he said.

The President, Cocoa Association of Nigeria (CAN), Mr Sayina Riman, in his welcome address, said, they have put together all modalities move forward and they will soon create a database for cocoa farmers. He said, the association’s vision was to instigate a vigorous “bean-to-bar database of the cocoa economy.’’

“In a networked and global economy, where traceability has become a major determinant for service delivery provision, policy making and customer experience, we cannot and must not continue to operate in the dark.”

“It is, indeed, an embarrassment that we have different accounts or sources of the cocoa output in Nigeria, embarrassing the even more that we do not know, for sure how many producers are actively involved in production. Indeed, how many are sharecroppers, lien croppers, etc, indeed how many farmlands are under active cultivation and by what farmer, “he said.