The president of the Federation of
Agricultural Commodity Associations of Nigeria (FACAN), Dr. Victor
Iyama, has attributed the continued decline in cocoa production in
Nigeria to the long period it takes to mature as well as impatience
among Nigerian youth, who are expected to embrace its production.
Iyama, who spoke in Abuja, yesterday, at
the 2nd Daily Trust Agric Conference, said cocoa was a good crop to
invest in but required a lot of patience from youth willing to go into
its production.
“It’s not four to six months, it is up to five years minimum but the beauty is that it can last for 70 years,” he said.
Dr. Victor also stated that production
of cocoa beans from harvest up to the time when it is properly fermented
took between 27 and 30 days depending on the weather.
He said chocolate was the easiest cocoa product to make and it generates large sums of money from the cocoa industry.
“Out of the 120 billion USD cocoa
economy, less than 15 billion USD goes to cocoa beans, cocoa cake and
cocoa butter while the rest goes to chocolate,” he said.
Dr. Victor noted that cocoa was the
second largest foreign exchange earner, next only to oil, adding that 29
states in the country can produce cocoa.
“There’s cocoa in Adamawa, Taraba,
Niger, Kogi and so many states have joined, it is no longer a southern
affair but a national affair,” Dr. Victor said
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