The national president of the Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria (CFAN), Adeola Adegoke, says Cross River will soon become the largest producer of cocoa in Nigeria.
Mr Adegoke stated this at the inauguration of the executive committee of CFAN in Cross River on Friday in Calabar.
According to him, Ondo State is presently known to be the largest producer of the crop in the country. He said the average age of a cocoa farmer in the state was between 55 and 60, describing this as an aging population.
Mr Adegoke said Cross River had the potential in massive land and forest for cocoa farming, coupled with the youthful population cultivating the crop in the state.
Though the CFAN president acknowledged the potential, he said the state had to tap into them to succeed, as cocoa alone could run its economy effectively.
“We want to see nothing less than 1,000 hectares of new cocoa estates established by the state.
“Enough of export of raw cocoa beans. We need to start adding value and coming up with cocoa wines, biscuits, sweets, and soaps that we can consume and export.
“We cannot prosper by just exporting raw cocoa beans. It is, therefore, important for the state government to be deliberate in infrastructural development in cocoa farming communities,’’ he said.
He urged CFAN members to repay the loans they collected from the government and also pay their annual dues to the association.
On his part, Governor Bassey Otu, represented by Secretary to the State Government Anthony Owan-Enoh, said the state would do all within its powers to ensure that cocoa farmers got all the necessary inputs.
According to him, the state has been shortchanged for so long because it produces cocoa but doesn’t get the necessary recognition.
“I will have a private meeting with the newly-inaugurated chairman of CFAN in the state, where he will table the concerns of the farmers so we can chart a new course for the sector,” he said.
In his remarks, the new CFAN chairman, Ramsey Tiku, said cocoa remained the mainstay of the state’s economy.
According to him, if cocoa development is relegated, the state will be relegating the development of its people.
(NAN)
