NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT TAKES STEPS TO BOOST COCOA PRODUCTION.
Written by AIGBOKHAEBHO OKHUELEIGBE on August 2, 2022
The Nigerian government is set to introduce the Living Income Differential (LID) on Cocoa production in the country, an initiative of the Ghanaian government to boost cocoa production.
Minister of agriculture and rural development, Mohammed Abubakar, made the disclosure during the inauguration of the National Cocoa Management Committee in Abuja on Tuesday.
He said the LID methodology will serve as an optimum tool for production and serve as a tool for competitive pricing in the international market.
The average cocoa production In Nigeria declined from 420,000 metric tons in the 1960s to 170,000 tons in 1999.
The story of cocoa production in Nigeria has been that of topsy-turvy with the production in Nigeria dropping from fourth to sixth largest producer in the world.
The country is currently contributing only five percent of global output as the country’s cocoa farmers keep aging.
To push up production and reclaim the country’s position in the global market, the permanent secretary of, the Ministry of Agriculture, Ernest Umakhihe, encouraged the National Cocoa Management committee to ensure the elimination of challenges being encountered in the Cocoa subsector.
The committee has seven (7) thematic tasks and mandates which include the development of a framework for the regulation and monitoring of the activities of the Cocoa subsector, and the development of a strategic plan for the establishment of a Nigerian Cocoa Board among others.
