Value addition robs Nigeria of $800bn chocolate market

Stories by Steve Agbota

Cocoa was one of the cash crops driving Nigeria’s economy before the advent of crude oil. Regrettably, however, the production of this key crop has been on the downward trend following years of government neglect and lack of value addition.
Available records show that cocoa was a major foreign exchange earner for Nigeria in the 1950s and 1960s and even up to 1970s, as the country was the second largest producer in the world. But from the 1970s and 1980s, Nigeria’s share of world cocoa output declined sharply.
Despite being the third cocoa producer in Africa after Ivory Coast, and Ghana, Nigeria, which grows the product in states like Ondo, Cross River, Ogun, Akwa Ibom, Edo, Ekiti, Delta, Osun and Oyo is not benefiting from global chocolate market worth about $800 billion because of poor quality production and value addition.
For one, Nigerian beans have been deemed by the world cocoa market as unsuitable for chocolate due to their high moisture content, which tend to make the more suitable in cake, butter and soaps.
But observers believe that the Nigerian government can turn things around for the crop, especially now that it’s being projected that global chocolate market could reach $1.5 trillion at the end of the year 2016.
The demand for chocolate is very high and becoming more expensive around the world today. Chocolate is made from cocoa liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, milk, and an emulsifier (such as lecithin) and is available in different varieties and flavors. Expert forecast that the global chocolate market could grow at the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 5.32 per cent during the period 2016-2020.
The trouble with cocoa started in 1986, when Nigeria dissolved the marketing boards and liberalised cocoa marketing and trade. However, cocoa trade has not yielded the anticipated results, in addition, aging trees and farms, low yields, inconsistent production patterns, disease incidence, pest attack and little agricultural mechanisation has contributed to a stagnant cocoa industry.
Currently, farmers sell their products indirectly through a cooperative or a licensed buying agent who in turn sell it to exporting firms. Some of the warehouses for cocoa in Nigeria like Multi-trex Integrated Foods Plc, and Cocoa Industries Limited in Ogba, Ikeja used by Cocoa Board are now warehouses for churches and others businesses.
Recently, the International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO) previously ranked Nigeria as the world’s fourth biggest cocoa producer but the Cocoa Association of Nigeria (CAN) recently revealed that the Nigeria has dropped to world’s seventh top producer after its projected output for the 2015-2016 season was lowered to 190,000 metric tons.
According to the President of the Association, Sayina Riman, the downgrade was attributed to the country’s exchange rate policy, lack of reliable data, low synergy between the public and private sectors.  The ICCO had initially projected Nigeria would produce 270,000 metric tons of cocoa in the current season.
Speaking with Daily Sun, an expert who previously works with an International organisation in US and Netherlands in cocoa production, Mr. Adeyemi Odunayo, said the major problem facing Nigeria’s cocoa was the issue of control. According to him, when cocoa board was in existence, the product was under control and Nigeria was enjoying everything.
He said that there is no different between Nigeria and Ghana cocoa, since the only difference perhaps is that cocoa business is controlled in Ghana while there is no control in Nigeria.
He noted: “Where is there is control, then there would be better quality and quality production but at the same time, the price would be controlled. Right now, it is wrong to say that Nigeria is not benefiting in the chocolate industry, we may not be benefiting because we are not producing enough. The farmers must be ready to access control, ready to do the right thing. Look at it now because the exchange rate is bad, they are enjoying it. Cocoa that was being sold at N300,000, N400,000 before, is now selling it over a million per tonne.”
He said Ghana at the beginning of every season gives farmers inputs such as fertiliser ; seedlings and TARAGA to dry the product, which is the standard in Ghana, saying that  if any farmer does not use TARAGA, government will not take product from such farmer unlike in Nigeria where they can do anything because the buyers are so many and cocoa farmers’ volume is very small.
He said if not for programme from US, Netherland, German governments and so many international NGO, Nigeria cocoa situation will have been worse than it is today.
According to him, the money these international bodies spend on cocoa industry in Nigeria is far more than what government is spending because they want farmers to produce more so that product prices can crash.
Managing director of Ile- Oluji Cocoa Products Limited and vice president Cocoa Prosessors Association of Nigeria (COPAN), Mr. Akin Olusuyi, admitted that value addition to cocoa in Nigeria is very small and insignificant due to the declining fortunes of Nigeria’s cocoa every year.
He added: “ We don’t have an institution to run cocoa economy. We are the only producing nation that doesn’t have a cocoa structure like a board that is governing the cocoa economy. So everybody does what he likes and most of our cocoa is being smuggled out our of the country and exported through other countries. That is why we are playing insignificantly in the market.
“It is left for the present government to wake up from its slumber and do needful for us to be able to restructure our cocoa economy, we can play a major role at the international market, anything outside of that, we are just wasting time. We need an institution to govern the cocoa economy in Nigeria. The they scrapped the cocoa board and there are no been any institution put in place to drive the cocoa economy in Nigeria,” he said.
Meanwhile, the National President of Cocoa Association of Nigeria (CAN), and Vice President of World Cocoa Producer Organisation, Sayina Riman, said the association is already working with the Ministry of Trade and Investment and Ministry of Agriculture to be able to make sure that the value chain is strictly adhered to.
He explained: “We do not want our exporters bypassing and going to the farmers themselves, bypassing the farm gate. There is structure, which we believe should empower Nigeria and Nigerians and we are using this to be able to warn all exporters that Cocoa Association itself is ready to use all the enforcement agency available to start enforcing the right of some exporters, some who break the value chain, others adhered to it. Nigerian farmers tend to earn the highest among all the whole sub-regional farmers. Today is about 1.2 million and farmers get higher far than the international market price because of speculation.
“But the Nigeria farmers does not get government support and this administration has shown us enough voice support and we are trying to work out modality to see that the support is achieved within the entire value chain. In the previous administration, we always had lot of money been voted into cocoa. If you go to farm any cocoa producing state, you will not be able to hear one farmer who will say he has been able to benefit from the subsidy. So you find out that within the same sector, you find people who surchange the farmers who should be the major beneficiary to be able to earn it themselves. It has always been issue of corruption but we are happy that the President is fighting it.”

Farmers urge FG to distribute resistant cowpea product directly

From Theresa Egba, Abuja

In the past years, farmers all over the country has reported about 70 to 80 per cent yield losses as a result of Maruca’ infestation on cowpea .
As a result of this, the Institute for Agriculture Research, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in collaboration with African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) and Open Forum on Agriculture Biotechnology (OFAB) has come up with a solution known as developing a pod-borer resistance (PBR) cowpea.
Speaking in Jar farm Bakura, Bakura LGA, Zamfara State , at the PBR Cowpea Field Day, the Principal Investigator PBR cowpea project,Prof. Mohammed Ishiyaku noted that this development of a cowpea product is capable of protecting itself from attack by maruca, which will make it easier and cheaper for the farmers to produce cowpeas in areas where this pest is a problem.
Farmers in Zamfara state who was represented by Malam Mahawuya has  attested to the positive effect, expressed their gratitude and  therefore urged the government not to allow hijackers to hijack the product but rather should deliver it directly to their hand.
The pod-borer resistant cowpea project is a public private partnership coordinated by AATF to promote technological interventions that will optimise cowpea productivity and ultilisation in sub-saharan Africa.
The partnership entails developing and testing cowpea varieties with a genetic trait that would make the plant resistant to the borer and provide farmers with an alternative spraying.
The project entails transferring the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) gene, which confers resistance to the pod, into improved cowpea varieties.
Cowpea is considered the most important food grain legume in the dry savannas of tropical Africa were is grown on more than 12.5 million hectares. It is rich in quality protein and its energy content almost equal to that of cereal grains, it is a good source of quality fodder for livestock and provides cash income.
Many biotic and abiotic factors greatly reduce cowpea productivity in the traditional African farming system, among these constraints is the pod borer, maruca vitrata which perennially damages cowpea pods in the fields.
The goal of the pod borer resistant cowpea project is to develop and disseminate farmer-preferred and locally adapted maruca resistance cowpea varieties in sub saharan African.
This project is being implemented in three countries, Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Ghana, the project is also conducting studies on safety for food, feed and environmental risks assessments for regulatory approvals in the target countries before seed release to farmers which will be ready by 2017 to 2018.
Control through spraying with insecticide has not been widely adopted by farmers due to its prohibitive costs, on the other hand, farmers who have adopted control through spraying have been exposed to serious health hazards but with this new varieties is expected to contribute to better health, environment and income for farmers.
The need for frequent spraying with insecticide to control the pod borer will be reduced and thereby reduce the cost, small holder farmers are expected to increase their yield by over 20 percent and to improve nutrition and food security for about 8 million farmers and their family.

Agric seed expert warns of fake seed

In the past four years, Nigeria’s national seed production capacity has tremendously increased.
Alongside this was a rise in the activities of unscrupulous seed merchants selling adulterated seed to unsuspecting farmers, a situation that has been leading to crop failure.
To reverse this trend, which could jeopardise the gains made within the period, and to ensure that only quality seeds of proven cultivars get to the Nigerian farmers in 2016 wet season, the National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC) is embarking on public enlightenment on this.
Earlier this year, NASC has done some regional sensitisation outreaches, but now plans to provide more information to help the seed industry better serve the stakeholders and to discourage such inappropriate trade tactics.
The DG of NASC, Dr. Olusegun Ojo, said very stiff punitive measures await violators of the  Nigerian Seed Act No. 72 of 1992, which is currently undergoing amendment by the National Assembly. Dr. Ojo described adulteration of seeds as an act of national sabotage.
He noted that adulteration of seeds will not be tolerated, as agriculture is now becoming the economic base of Nigeria, and seed is the backbone of the sector. In addition to Ojo’s view of seed’s contribution to Nigeria’s economy, its role in the West African sub-regional food security has been emphasised.
During his visit to Nigeria recently, Dr. Ernest Assah Asiedu, of the West Africa Seed Program (WASP) observed that: “In 2015, West Africa supplied a total of 314,500 tons of seeds (rice, maize, sorghum, millet, cowpea and groundnuts), which was planted on 21 per cent of land allocated to these crops. Out of the 114,000 tons of rice supplied, Nigeria supplied 90,000 tons (79 per cent) and out of the 108,000 tons of maize supplied in the region, Nigeria supplied 75,000 (69 per cent). I must commend SEEDAN for excellent job being done despite challenges faced.”
“In 2015, Nigeria was among the nine countries that supported Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea with foundation and certified seeds in the Post Ebola Agricultural Rehabilitation Programs. Nigeria also supported the Gambia with certified rice seeds.”