Peter Aikpokpodion, an expert in cocoa improvement and value chain development in Nigeria has said that the country’s inability to maintain a steady growth in its cocoa output over the years is owing to insufficient structural support in the subsector.
According him, despite the potential of the Nigeria’s cocoa industry to change the fortunes of the country’s economy, with attendant exponential gains by way of earnings, employment and other spin-offs, the Federal Government is yet to provide the structures that would consistently drive growth.
“The current situation in our cocoa production is only a reflection of the worsening conditions since stagnation or near-neglect of national cocoa development efforts which was re-ignited almost two decades ago during President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration,” Aikpokpodion said
“It is obvious that the support structures that made the cocoa sector a solid contributor to the nation’s economy in the past are no longer in place and this leads to underperformance and low farm productivity as well as fluctuations in output.
Cocoa, which remains one of the fastest selling and most desirable agricultural commodities in the international market owing to the rapid growth and expansion of chocolate confectionaries and other products, is still neglected by the government.
Over the years, the government has mouthed support for cocoa farming and processing but none has made it beyond the talking stage.
“It appears that from the Federal Government side, not much is being done recently to sustain efforts at growing Nigeria’s cocoa output steadily. At government level, the country is yet to have a functional strategic national plan for the cocoa industry despite the huge importance of cocoa to Nigeria’s economy.
“It is important that the government support the private sector players and their representative organizations especially the Cocoa Association of Nigeria. With a strategic national plan and functional structures to support on-farm production, Nigerian cocoa farmers will double their efforts to ramp up cocoa production,” he said.
Aikpokpodion also stated that other factors such as high rates of old trees, limited use of pesticides and vulnerability of pest and diseases as factors responsible for the constant decline of Nigeria’s cocoa output.
“It is estimated that more than 80 percent of Nigerian cocoa farms estimated at 800,000 ha are older than 50 years. The preponderance of very old tree stocks with most over 30 years results in low yields often less than 400 kg and ha and vulnerable to pest infestation.
“Limited use of pesticides to control black pod disease at the right time and recommended rates also lead to severe loss of yield on the farm. A recent field visit shows that the cocoa swollen shoot virus (CSSV) disease which is a major yield limiting disease has become a significant constraint that needs urgent attention,” he further said.
“This disease has often been overlooked as locally important only in areas of mass infection in southwestern Nigeria and considered not too important by policy makers and research institutions,” he explained.
Nigeria that was once the world leading producer of cocoa has seen its production fluctuating in the last five years with a current production of 210,000MT in 2016/2017, according to data from the International Cocoa Organisation 2016/2017 season.
Josephine Okojie
