The Federal Government is eyeing 500,000 tonnes of cocoa production before the end of 2024, in a move geared toward reviving the country’s dwindling economy.
In a statement obtained by TechEconomy, Mohammad Abubakar, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development said the government is committed to increasing production from the present 340,000 tonnes to 500,000 tonnes through Living Income Differential (LID) policy.
LID policy is an export system that applies a premium of $400 per ton on the export price of cocoa aside from the floor price or direct amount being paid for cocoa tons by the chocolate makers or international cocoa buyers in Cote D’Ivoire and Ghana, respectively.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the agricultural sector in the first quarter of 2022 grew by 3.16% (year-on-year) in real terms, an increase of 0.88% points from the corresponding period of 2021, and a decrease of 0.42% points from the preceding quarter, which recorded a growth rate of 3.58%
Nigeria is the 4th largest producer of cocoa globally, and is committed to partnerships in its cocoa development.
Cocoa is among Nigeria’s leading agricultural exports and constitutes 2% of its exports annually. It is the country‘s third-largest export after crude petroleum, and liquefied natural gas, thus a sustained price increase will immensely help local industries.
The Minister said that Nigeria was ranked number four among cocoa-producing countries in the world, assuring of the “commitment of the Federal Government to increase Nigeria’s cocoa production from the present 340,000 tonnes to 500,000 tonnes by 2024.
“Recently, Nigeria has made a remarkable move to join the Living Income Differential (LID) initiatives which were established by Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana in 2019 which aims at guaranteeing the livelihood of smallholder farmers through LID of $400/ton of cocoa beans sold.
”The two countries are benefiting while Nigerian cocoa farmers are at a disadvantage of this benefit due to unregulated and liberalized cocoa industry in the country,” Abubakar said.
He also stated that the Nigerian and Ghana cocoa boards had yielded positive results in talks with the recent approval by the ministry to establish the National Cocoa Management Committee (NCMC).
“The committee will consist of all relevant stakeholders in the Nigerian cocoa industry, develop a framework for the regulation and monitoring of all activities in the cocoa sector in order to achieve transparency, traceability, and sustainability,” he said.
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