The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, has stated that Nigeria's coca export accounted for 29 per cent of total agricultural export valued at N1.24 trillion in 2023.
According to him, cocoa also represented 5.6 per cent of total non-oil exports recorded in 2023.
Kyari stated this during a courtesy visit by the National Cocoa Management Committee (NCMC) in Abuja.
He stated that in January 2024, a tonne of cocoa bean was valued at N1.8 million while it is being valued at N11.2million per tonne presently in the Nigerian market.
"This implies that cocoa development in Nigeria is economically viable for investment both locally and internationally," he said.
He however stated that NCMC is also to guarantee quality, transparency and sustainability in the cocoa value chain, maintaining that the establishment of NCMC is premised on the importance of cocoa to the economy of Nigeria.
"It is on record that Nigeria generated N356.16 billion worth of cocoa beans and its allied products in 2023 which makes it the highest agricultural contributor to the GDP," he stressed.
"I was made to understand that the NCMC is in a good position to implement the National Cocoa Plan being championed by both Federal Ministries of Agriculture & Food Security and Industry, Trade and Investment. This is with a view to boosting the production of Cocoa and for Nigeria to take its rightful place in the league of Cocoa producing countries in the world," he noted.
On the issue of the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) threats to Nigerian cocoa, he pledged the commitment of the Ministry to support the European Union (EU) to embark on the assessment as was done for other cocoa producing countries
"Also, it is noteworthy that the African Development Fund (AFDB) has funds to support the development of cocoa in Nigeria as mentioned by the NCMC Chairman. Therefore, this Ministry will work through the NCMC to access this fund for the development of the Cocoa sector and the implementation of the National Cocoa Plan (2023-2032)," he assured.
"I therefore urge this all-important noble Committee to put all hands-on deck to champion the way forward for Nigerian cocoa thereby achieving all set objectives of NCMC," he implored.
Speaking on the brief on NCMC, the Chairman NCMC and Director, Federal Department of Agriculture, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Engr. Abdullahi Abubakar, said the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security approved the establishment of the National Cocoa Management Committee (NCMC), a national coordinating body expected to guarantee quality, traceability, transparency, and sustainability in Cocoa Value Chain on 2nd August 2022 for the purpose of developing a framework for the regulation and monitoring of Cocoa sector's activities.
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He added that the NCMC at their inaugural meeting came up with a draft bill for the establishment of the National Cocoa Management Board/Commission for the management of cocoa value chain in the country.
"The NCMC shall establish a data bank for all Multinational Companies and Exporters of Cocoa Beans from Nigerian Ports," he stated
On the achievements recorded so far, he said NCMC has been able to bring together relevant stakeholders towards chatting a new direction for the cocoa sector and has held three previous meetings out of which two were sponsored by Outspan Nigeria Limited and Traceability and Resilience in Agriculture & Ecosystem (TRACE) project respectively. In view of the funding challenge of NCMC, we seek the support of HMA towards funding of the Committee activities.
"NCMC has enabled a proper coordination within the cocoa industry which was lacking due to non-regulation of the cocoa sector in Nigeria, unlike Ghana with full regulation while Cote d'Ivoire has partial regulation," he averred.
He also pointed out the need for the implementation of the 10 year National Cocoa Plan (2023-2032) by the NCMC.
