The Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria (CFAN) has declared their lofty ambition of outperforming fellow West African countries Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire in the next five years to become the leading producer of Cocoa in the world.
According to the umbrella body that represents Nigerian cocoa farmers, they are implementing systems to make this dream a reality, with an aggressive drive towards sustained farming.
CFAN contended that the measures were targeted at increasing Nigeria’s cocoa output which in turn would boost the country’s foreign exchange inflows and improve the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
These assertions were made by CFAN President, Comrade Adeola Adegoke as the association unveiled a new national in office in Abuja.
Business Insider Africa reported Comrade Adeola as saying cocoa farmers in Nigeria had bought into the vision and we’re working assiduously to realize the vision.
“Our focus as a nation is to surpass the production and production capacity of both Ivory Coast and Ghana in the next five years through a sustainable cocoa production where we will have a more realistic largest cocoa pyramid in the world in Nigeria to grow our foreign exchange earnings and GDP respectively,” Comrade Adeola Adegoke emphasised.
“This will be done particularly on the safe use and application of pesticide, prevention of deforestation and child labour, putting traceability in place, having sustainable ecosystem and good quality cocoa in general,” he added.
In the interim, CFAN’s focus, Adeola intimated, would be tilted towards its short-term vision of increasing Nigeria’s cocoa production from its current 328,263 metric tons per annum to 500,000 metric tons over the next two years.
Data obtained from World Population Review lists Cote D’Ivoire as the largest producer of cocoa beans in the world.
According to 2021 global cocoa production data by the International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO), Cote d’Ivoire recorded an output of 2.24 million metric tonnes, with Ghana in second place recording 1.047 million metric tonnes.
Nigeria secured third place in global production rankings in the year under review with output north of 270,000 metric tonnes.
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