In line with the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) of the federal government, the new chairman of the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN), Prince Francis Fadahunsi, has identified cocoa as a major export resource Nigeria could exploit to diversify the economy from its crude oil mainstay.
Speaking with newsmen on the sidelines of the formal inauguration of board members of parastatals under the Ministry of Agriculture, Fadahunsi called for massive investment of the country’s petrodollars in cocoa production in view of dwindling oil revenue caused by new oil discoveries globally.
Fadahunsi said: “My own function is very simple, as a son of a cocoa farmer trained with cocoa money, I have the obligation to bring cocoa back as the number one export earning revenue in Nigeria and to make Nigeria the number one producing country in the world.
“Oil is going because virtually all the West Africa countries have found oil and there is always glut in the market. So the money Nigeria generates from oil should be invested in cocoa. It will help boost the country’s economy. You know they cannot steal cocoa because there is no pipe. Cocoa is very easy for government to calculate and know the actual earnings from it. Now, every country is discovering oil and where is the market?”
The CRIN chair disclosed that 24 states in the country are currently cocoa producers. He said the cocoa research institute would embark on a needs assessment tour of cocoa producing states prelude to the 2014 budget.
In part, the ATA sets out to create over 3.5 million jobs from the rice, cassava, sorghum, cocoa and cotton value chains with many more jobs to come from other value chains under implementation.
Fadahunsi said: “My own function is very simple, as a son of a cocoa farmer trained with cocoa money, I have the obligation to bring cocoa back as the number one export earning revenue in Nigeria and to make Nigeria the number one producing country in the world.
“Oil is going because virtually all the West Africa countries have found oil and there is always glut in the market. So the money Nigeria generates from oil should be invested in cocoa. It will help boost the country’s economy. You know they cannot steal cocoa because there is no pipe. Cocoa is very easy for government to calculate and know the actual earnings from it. Now, every country is discovering oil and where is the market?”
The CRIN chair disclosed that 24 states in the country are currently cocoa producers. He said the cocoa research institute would embark on a needs assessment tour of cocoa producing states prelude to the 2014 budget.
In part, the ATA sets out to create over 3.5 million jobs from the rice, cassava, sorghum, cocoa and cotton value chains with many more jobs to come from other value chains under implementation.
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