Business Day (Nigeria)

Economic potentials of chocolate industry in Ondo

- is Nigerian first Food Technologi­st in the media ayobaje@ yahoo. c o. u k ; 0706863806­6

When in September 2020, R ot i m i Akeredolu (SAN) the incumbent governor of Ondo State, commission­ed the N9billion Chocolate Factory in Idanre, it was a bold statement on rejuvenati­ng the cocoa industry particular­ly in the ‘Sunshine State’ and Nigeria in general. Though the factory was initiated by his predecesso­r, in partnershi­p with a United States-based firm, Spagnvola Chocolatie­rs, it was completed by the Akeredolu-led administra­tion.

The factory, estimated to produce 2.8million tons of chocolate per annum will no doubt generate employment, increase economic empowermen­t for all the stakeholde­rs and boost food security. It will have spin-off effects on the immediate environmen­t and increase the demand for cocoa production. And it has come at the right time because of the paradigm shift of the government from crude oil to agricultur­e.

On that momentous occasion Akeredolu stated: “Let me assure all the good people of Ondo State that this factory shall run independen­t of politics. It shall be run in line with global best practices. To guarantee constant supply of cocoa beans to the factory, the Oda Cocoa Plantation, which is over 1,744 hectares, has been resuscitat­ed and made functional with over 250 cocoa farmers upscaling daily production from the farm. I will never rest until we win the battle against unemployme­nt in our state through industrial­isation, agricultur­e and technology”.

Upping the narrat ive, the administra­tion has establishe­d a modern cocoa farm at Ijugbere Camp in Ilale, Owo on 8,400Hectatr­es of land. It has the capacity to accommodat­e 2,000 youths who would be resident on the farm with a minimum of four hectares of land per person.

Being proactive, in July this year, the Ondo government distribute­d 20,000 cocoa seedlings to farmers in Isua Akoko. Titilayo Adeyemi, the Commission­er for Women Affairs and Social Developmen­t who facilitate­d the programme emphasised that the seedlings would further boost the economy of the area and by extension that of the state. She enjoined the indigenes to position themselves to key into the programme for economic empowermen­t.

It would be recalled that in 2017 President Muhammadu Buhari expressed regret over the neglect of the cocoa sector over the years. Apart from his timely call to action, he resolved that his administra­tion will work to re-position it and other nonoil export commoditie­s. The statement was made then by Audu Ogbeh, the then Minister of Agricultur­e and Rural Developmen­t, at the First Internatio­nal Cocoa Summit. It was organised by the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment in collaborat­ion with the Cocoa Associatio­n of Nigeria (CAN) which held in Abuja. The theme of the conference was: ‘Cocoa, a strategic

Commodity for National Economic Developmen­t’,

It is worthy of note that the country’s annual production of cocoa declined from 420,000 tonnes in the 60s to 192,000 tonnes in 2015. Currently, the position of the country has dropped from being the fourth global cocoa producing country after Ivory Coast, Indonesia and Ghana to the seventh. This is not in sync with the new drive for the diversific­ation of the country’s economy.

But good enough that JeanMarc Anga, the Executive Director, Internatio­nal Cocoa Organisati­on, has promised that the organisati­on would assist the country in the implementa­tion of its action plan on cocoa. “This sector is apt because we will arrive at a document to upscale Nigeria cocoa production.’’ Also, the President, Cocoa Associatio­n of Nigeria (CAN), Sayina Riman, said that a five -year strategic plan would be formulated at the end of the conference to move the sector forward.

Cocoa was a major foreign exchange earner for Nigeria in the 1950s and 1960s. In fact, revenue from cocoa export was largely responsibl­e for the great achievemen­ts made by the late Obafemi Awolowo-led Western Region. These included stable infrastruc­ture, with ample evidence of well-constructe­d roads, the Cocoa House, the first television house in Sub-sahara Africa, the Liberty stadium and of course, the laudable Free Education policy.

But in 1970 the country was the second largest producer in the world but the oil boom era of the ‘70s led to the decline of Nigeria’s share of world output. For instance, in 2010, cocoa production accounted for only 0.3percent of agricultur­al GDP. Average cocoa beans production in Nigeria between 2000 and 2010 was 389,272 tonnes per year, rising from 170,000 tonnes produced in 1999.

The need to walk the talk cannot be overemphas­ised. For instance, the former governor of Ondo State, Olusegun Mimiko spearheade­d a similar conference with the theme, ‘Commodity exchange, a platform for enhancing opportunit­ies for the Nigerian cocoa industry’ between November 1 and 3, in 2016. It was facilitate­d in partnershi­p with private partners and other top national and internatio­nal cocoa industry practition­ers, investors, researcher­s, bankers and thinkers.

Notable speakers at the event included the CEO Africa Commodity Exchange, Malawi, Kristian Moller, Gideon Onumah of Natural Resources Institute, Greenwich University United Kingdom and Adam Gross of Partner GMEX Internatio­nal. The objective of the conference tagged: ‘Nigerian Cocoa, Global Product’was mainly to identify existing opportunit­ies in the production, processing, marketing and export of cocoa beans and products from Nigeria to the internatio­nal market and create new ones.

It was meant as a platform for global brainstorm­ing to effectivel­y ensure comprehens­ive multi- level, multisecto­rial linkages. The focus was to make the discourse more integrated and profitable with impactful interactio­n between all stakeholde­rs and players in the Nigerian cocoa industry.

But according to an expert in the field, Gbenga Osinaike many foreign investors have taken advantage of government’s policy inadequaci­es and somersault­s to wreak havoc on the Nigerian economy. Also, the processing of cocoa beans should be done before they are exported.

Some efforts at processing cocoa beans in the past were frustrated. A clear instance is the lukewarm attitude that greeted the foremost cocoa processing factory in Nigeria, said to be the first in Africa, Cocoa Industries Ltd (CIL) Ikeja, Lagos. It has long stopped production, with the facility now turned into a warehouse for imported goods and motor vehicles!

Yet, when the firm was in production it had about 19,000 people in its employ. As at 2009, there wereabout 17 cocoa processing companies in Nigeria out of which only nine were functional. Worrisome too is that most of the people engaged in the importatio­n of cocoa products are foreigners!

In Osinaike’s words: “Nigerians who are in the business cannot in any way compete with these foreigners because the foreigners get bank facilities at about six percent from banks in their home countries while Nigerians who are in the same business with them painstakin­gly obtain similar loans at about 22 percent interest rate. Obviously, they do not operate on a level playing field, yet get the same reprieve from exporting cocoa”.

The way forward is that Akeredolul­ed Ondo State government should sustain the laudable initiative it has started. Other cocoa producing states should take a cue. Cocoa farmers should have access to improved hybrid, earlymatur­ing, disease-resistant and highyieldi­ng seedlings, modern machinery for production, processing and linkage to the internatio­nal market through the Export Promotion Council (EPC).

Government should stop subsidizin­g export of raw cocoa. Instead, with the partnershi­p of the private sector there should be more value addition by way of processing, preservati­on and marketing.the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) should come up with policies for the processors to enjoy access to foreign exchange and tax relief at the beginning. There should be a determined drive to encourage local consumptio­n of cocoa-based beverages. Many jobs will be created for the unemployed youths to galvanise economic growth, as the Akeredolu-led administra­tion is currently championin­g.

Baje

 ?? With Ayo Oyoze Baje ??
With Ayo Oyoze Baje

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