The Nation Newspaper

Tag: COCOA

  • Cocoa firm unveils plans to transition to gas

    Cocoa firm unveils plans to transition to gas

    Managing Director of Johnvents Industries, Caroline Omotosho, has said the firm was will safeguard the ozone layer and  environment through installation of gas  plants in its factories. 

    Omotosho said its commitment to sustainable development would usher in a commitment towards greener future. 

    She spoke in Akure, Ondo State, while addressing reporters on shift from fossil fuels 

     Omotosho said the organisation was promoting sustainable farming and transitioning to low-carbon energy.

    “Many farming practices have been identified as contributors to ozone depletion and environmental degradation.

    Read Also: Ondo farmers protest sale of cocoa plantations

     “Such practices include deforestation, use of harmful pesticides and fertilisers, and bush burning

    She explained “in an effort to counteract these, Johnvents Group has implemented its first phase of organising training and awareness in cocoa-producing regions

    “The training focused on sustainable practices, providing cocoa nurseries, supplying approved pesticides and fertilisers to registered farmers, and offering incentives to farmers who participate in and complete the Rainforest Alliance certification programme.

    “Johnvents is set to transition from fossil fuels into gas plants. These cutting-edge gas plants serve as eco-friendly and cleaner energy source, markedly diminishing GHG emissions associated with conventional fossil fuels.

    “This transition aligns seamlessly with Johnvent’s commitment to reducing environmental footprint of its operations.

     “Through investments in sustainable practices and adoption of low-carbon energy sources, Johnvents is safeguarding the ozone layer and preserving our atmosphere.”

  • Ondo farmers protest sale of cocoa plantations

    Ondo farmers protest sale of cocoa plantations

    Farmers at Ilua village, Ondo West Local Government of Ondo State, have staged a peaceful protest over alleged sale of their cocoa plantations and other farmland by the state government to foreign companies.

    The farmers, who hailed from 20 villages in the area, defied downpour and trooped out in large number to join the protest.

    They carried placards with inscriptions such as: “This is another slavery”, “We say no to the destruction of our cocoa farms”, “No Farmers, No Nation’, “We don’t want to steal, farming is our job”, “Aketi should not sell our land to Chinese”, “They should leave us here to farm, we have nowhere to go”, “Cocoa farm is our livelihood, don’t chase us out”, “Cocoa farm is what we live on, don’t sell the land to China.”

    They alleged that the state government had issued a quit notice to them as well as threatened to evacuate them forcefully if they failed to relocate before the end of the year.

    Read Also: Cocoa farmers beg Akeredolu to halt grading of farmlands

    The traditional ruler of Ilua, Oba Olalani Ibidapo, who spoke on behalf of the protesters, said the investors had started erecting signposts that the farmland had been sold by the state government.

    He said they were issued notice to quit the farms because the companies wanted to move in and take over the farms and villages.

    Senior Special Assistant on Agric & Agribusiness to Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, Pastor Akin Olotu, however, denied allegations of sale of farmlands at Ilua village.

    He said no quit notice was issued to the farmers.

  • Cocoa prices dip on weak global demand

    International cocoa prices have continued to plunge, despite increasing demand in  the  global market.

    The downward trend has affected the profitability of the industry, which is heavily dependent on the export markets.

    According to the World Bank Commodities Price Data, in January 2016,  cocoa sold at $2.89 per kilogramme and  fell to $2.03 in December  2017. It sold at $2.29 in January, last year and $2.18 last December.

    Between January and March, this year, it sold at $2.24 and $2.20,while in  April, cocoa sold for $2.33  and $2.32 in May.

    According to data from the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) cocoa sold for $ 1770.50 per ton on June 11 and  $1782.47 on June 12.

    Federation of Agricultural Commodities of Nigeria (FACAN) President, Dr  Victor Iyama,  said the prices of  agro commodities had witnessed  high and low prices  this year.

    He attributed this to over production  and  earlier weather concerns about the West African cocoa bean crop.

    Cocoa bean supplies are coming off a major global surplus estimated at 300,000 tonnes in 2016-17 after record production in the Ivory Coast.

    He called for increased  distribution of hybrid seedlings and other advanced technologies that help cocoa farmers improve yields.

  • ‘What Nigeria ‘ll benefit from international cocoa agreement’

    President Muhammadu Buhari recently signed an international cocoa agreement. In this interview with GBENGA ADERANTI, Oba Dokun Thompson, a stakeholder in international chocolate production and the traditional ruler of Eti-Oni, whose domain produces cocoa, talks about how the agreement is going to affect Nigeria. Excerpts:

    How is the International Cocoa Agreement going to affect cocoa business and cocoa farmers in Nigeria?

    The recently signed International Cocoa Agreement by President Buhari was agreed at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, UNCTAD, that was held in Geneva in 2010.

    It was the United Nations conference on cocoa and the main objectives of the agreement were to actually develop the world cocoa business or economy with particular focus on small holder cocoa farmers and to alleviate poverty which is very important not only for Nigeria but every cocoa producing country in the world.

    This is the 7th of such agreements and the first one was in 1972 when the International Cocoa Organization, ICCO, was established and the previous one in 2001 before this current one. What I am not sure of is when another agreement will be considered because this 2010 Agreement was drawn up in line with the UN 2015 Millennium Development Goals, MDGs. Now we have the UN 2030 SDGs.

    Though this agreement lays some emphasis on sustainability, I believe the scope may need to be expanded further to address some other areas that were not fully catered for in the UN 2015 MDGs and are now in the UN 2030 SDGs.

    On the part of the federal government, I cannot say why it took this long before the signature and why it was eventually signed but I have been advocating for the renaissance of the Nigerian cocoa industry for about three years now and perhaps that is what informed the signature and just like every agreement with all parties involved having certain obligations.

    I hope this will not just be one of a signature but also one that would be executed with every sense of duty and responsibility that comes with agreeing to be bound by the terms of any agreement.

    Would it not pose threat to firms in Nigeria using cocoa in their production?

    Not at all, it should in actual fact enhance their businesses but it all depends on their models and how the government works out the terms of the agreements for our benefit. There are two categories of membership or parties to the agreement, the exporters and importers.

    At the moment, Nigeria is an exporting country and the greatest challenge we have as a country where cocoa is concerned is really not with the International Cocoa Agreement (ICA) but with ourselves. For us at Eti-Oni Development Group, we are only just really understudying the industry in a manner to not only add but also create value and until we achieve this as a country, we would continue to lag behind.

    Beyond categorising us as exporters, we are also classified as bulk purchase cocoa producers while only Sao Tome & Principe and Madagascar are the only countries in Africa labelled with producing exclusively or partially fine or flavour cocoa and I don’t completely agree with that which leaves us with a lot of work to do.

    As part of our cocoa reconnaissance advocacy, we are working on redefining the industry to give it the true label or identity and not just accepting it as currently designated without working towards a complete audit or analysis of what we actually produce and I am sure we will get there soon.

    How possible is it for Nigeria to abide ‘faithfully’ as promised by the president?

    It is very possible for Nigeria to abide by the terms of the agreement and to also play our part diligently and when the President used the word ‘faithfully’, I want to believe that puts our interests first and ahead of any other. Our number one responsibility to the country is first for our well-being while developing both economically and socially.

    Our obligations to the agreement is to build our local and national capacity in terms of the standard, quality and output of beans produced with consideration for the environment and employment of good ethical practices that are transparent and will also improve the living standards and conditions of the farmers to create sustainability.

    That is the duty to ourselves and that is how we can positively contribute our own quota to aggregate those attributes with others to achieve the global objectives.

    Government also promised to support cocoa farmers, but with an ailing economy, how possible is this?

    The main solution to an ailing economy like ours is diversification and moving up the value chain and like I have always said, our economy had always been diversified.

    Apart from oil, we had always been involved in agriculture and others in the past but we have not moved along the value chain. We have crude but don’t have capacity to refine, we have cocoa but don’t have capacity to process, the refineries and processing plants in place are crying because of several problems inflicted by bad business judgments in some cases but most cases are as a result of bad government policies that actually kill these industries.

    The issue of multiple taxation by different government agencies going in and out of industries demanding payments for same permits called by different names which more or less fleeces them does nothing but destroys businesses. It is not even always when you provide loans that businesses thrive.

    When these measures that strangulate manufacturing and businesses are removed, it is another way of giving businesses money or a lifeline to survive and thrive. The environment is too regulated and constrained and the government needs to make a bold move to break the noose put around the necks of businesses and promote free trade in a well-structured deregulated environment that will make these businesses thrive.

    Even if these loans are given and the environment and conditions are not conducive, they will choke in no time and this is the situation not just with cocoa but all the other agriculture products and those in the manufacturing sector.

    With the current development, will your partners come to Nigeria to site a chocolate factory in Nigeria?

    Very interesting question because most see what we are doing as simply just to site a chocolate factory or produce cocoa but that is not the case for us.

    At Eti-Oni, cocoa and chocolate are part of our heritage and we will not separate them. Our model is such that we are working on creating a cocoa culture and part of it is through the annual cocoa festival celebration and the 2018 edition comes up between 2nd and 9th December 2018 at Eti-Oni in Atakumosa East LGA of Osun State where we will be celebrating 122 years of continued production of cocoa with the theme: Royal Origins and Traditions of Cocoa for Sustainable Transformation.

    We are also organizing some events in the UK in conjunction with ‘Friends of Eti-Oni’ as part of the strategy to create the global awareness and identity. On the 21st of October, 2018 we are having an afternoon of Tasting and Pairings of our Eti-Oni Signature dishes which are a set of recipes that were created to balance a complexity of flavours to tantalize the palate with African, Caribbean and European influence and infused with cocoa or interlaced with chocolate and this is being hosted by Jon Ganna, a prince of Koton Karfe, Kogi State and a Fellow of the Guild of Master Chefs at Huntingdon, UK and the annual Royal Cocoa Festival Dinner comes up on the 24th of October, 2018 in London.

    The intention is to create a fully integrated structure that will see production, processing and consumption increase and with it transform the rural community of Eti-Oni into a sustainable model smart town in line with the UN 2030 SDGs which is actually what the ICA is all about because that is what will achieve the main objectives of the agreement.

    So it is not just about a partner or a chocolate factory but several partners in a multifaceted arrangement that would also employ technology for ease of deployment as well as replicating and multiplying our solutions for provision of physical infrastructure and social services rapidly for the benefit of the people.

     

  • Akeredolu distributes 45, 000 cocoa seedlings to farmers

    Ondo State governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, yesterday distributed 450,000 high yielding cocoa seedlings and 25,000 Brazilian jumbo cashew seedlings to farmers across the three senatorial districts of the state.

    The governor declared that the state would be returned to its leadership position in the country as the leading producer of Cocoa.

    The event, which witnessed a huge turnout of farmers, was held at the Federal College of Agriculture, Akure (FECA)

    Governor Akeredolu assured that his administration will help farmers to easily access bank loans to ease the stress of finance.

    He noted that the distribution of the cocoa and cashew seedlings was a partnership initiative between the state and the Federal Government.

    The Governor urged the youths to learn the rope of farming and return to basic, stressing that only agriculture can take the country out of economy problems.

    Akeredolu said his administration deliberately put in place a programme that would drive the Federal Government’s Cocoa Rebirth Initiative in the State.

    He said: “It is our desire that other tree crops like cashew, oil palm, rubber, kolanut, coconut etc, will witness similar development in the State.

    “Essentially, our Cocoa Rebirth Initiative is addressing the production and distribution of improved cocoa varieties with early maturity of between 18th and 24th months, high in yield production, and tolerant to harsh weather conditions

    “ I am happy to inform you that these improved varieties are produced from the five seed gardens in the State

    “  I wish to also emphasise that the good quality of our cocoa seedlings brought about the partnership of the State with the Federal Government for the distribution of hybrid cocoa pods to all the Cocoa Producing States in the country

    “We have embarked on the rehabilitation of old and moribund cocoa farms while also venturing into new plantation development. A good example is our resolve to establish the 2000ha model cocoa farm at Ijugbere Camp, Ilale via Owo.”

    The governor disclosed that his administration was embarking on massive training of cocoa farmers in modern techniques and principles of cocoa production coupled with the use of modern fermentation and Sun drying equipment.

    He said the government is promoting local consumption of cocoa and chocolate drinks through sensitization of the citizenry on the health and wealth benefits of cocoa.

    He said: “It is our view that cocoa and chocolate would be incorporated into the national School Feeding Programme.

  • Exporters lament drop in produce prices

    Falling agro exports prices, despite the rise in cocoa prices, is giving stakeholders concerns. Cocoa price has continued its bullish trend, hitting more than $2,000 per tonne.

    On March 8, cocoa price was $2504 at the New York futures, while the International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO) price was $2489.36.

    Notwithstanding, the Federation of Agricultural Commodity Association (FACAN) President, Dr. Victor Iyama, said farmers were confronting falling prices of key agricultural commodities, such as ginger, because of fresh supplies from other countries.

    He said ginger price had fallen to $980 per tonne, stating that the price plunged because exports to Asia had slowed due to surplus production there. Increased output from other regions, specifically China, has also resulted to a glut of the product in the market.

    Between last year and this year, demand for ginger also endured significant ups and downs.

    He said despite increased local production, farmers might get less than they bargained for.

    A member of the Nigerian-Vietnam Business Association, Mr  Sunny Anjorin, said the price of  dried ones  coming from Nigeria had plummeted.

    Before now, prices in China reached  $3,000. It was estimated that total production in China would be about 15,000 tonnes, but now export traders re-estimated production to the tune of 20,000 -25,000 tonnes. He explained that China was investing in massive ginger production.

    According to him, China is a real threat to Nigeria as they offer the produce at the lowest price level in the global market. He complained that stored ginger was rotting due to lack of market. He explained that global producers of ginger were  harvesting.

    For example, the domestic price of ginger in Kaduna has dropped from N280,000 per tonne to N240,000.

    India is the world’s largest producer of ginger, with an estimated 799,860 tonnes from 1,53,450 hectares (ha) in 2015 and 16, according to  statistics.

    However, in terms of area, Nigeria and China are at the top. India and China contribute almost 50 per cent of world ginger production.

    Experts said the Nigeria and China gimger’s low rates in the international market were impacting the Indian ginger exports.

    With the unstable price of cashew nut in the global market, he advised Nigerians to produce more highly-processed products.

    He said the price of cashew nut exports may not remain stable. He urged the sector to focus on improving the product quality, processing technique and domestic market development.

  • Rise in cocoa prices excites farmers

    Global cocoa prices, which forced farmers to abandon their plantations in 2016, are picking up gradually.

    In 2016, the price of cocoa fell from $3,500 to  $1,400 per tonne due to a glut in the market caused by excess production of 400,000 tonnes. Since then, cocoa farmers have not been finding easy to make ends meet.

    But, their story is changing as the two-year meltdown in the global cocoa market seems to be coming to an end.

    The price of a tonne of cocoa  last month ending rose to $1,515 from $1,456 on February 14.

    Welcoming the development, the  National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN) President, Mr. Tola Faseru, said many farmers had abandoned cocoa production because of meltdown.

    He said farmers and exporters lost  billions to the fall in prices.

    Faseru said with rise in cocoa price the wild ride of the past two years was over and farmers were poised to head back to the farms.

    The International Cocoa and Coffee Organisation reported in 2015 there was a boom with growing demand, particularly in the new markets of China and India. This pushed farmers to produce a surplus of 400,000 tonnes of cocoa against the four million tonnes yearly supply. In 2016 and 2017, there was another surplus of about 400,000 tonnes.

    The massive oversupply, which followed led to  global glut, he said, was  detrimental to cocoa production with high price fluctuation.

    With the price gradually picking, he advised that production should not be dropped and the quality of the crop should be controlled by halting early harvests.

  • ‘Nigeria can earn $1.3b yearly from cocoa’

    By 2025, Nigeria can earn about $1.3billion yearly as revenue from cocoa export, studies conducted by the Nigeria Export Promotion(NEPC) in collaboration with the Applied Management Research Team 10 (AMR T10), University of California, Los Angeles, has shown.

    The Acting Executive Director/CEO of the Council,Abdullahi Sidi-Aliyu, dsiclosed this during a one-day training and demonstration on processing techniques for high quality cocoa beans in Akure, the Ondo State capital.

    The training was organised by Ondo State Cocoa Revolution Project.

    Represented by NEPC Acting Director,Akintunde Folorunso, acting CEO said the huge revenue was capable of attracting global players such as Nestle to transform the sector through forward integration into global value chains.

    According to him, value chain development in the cocoa sector has great prospects in the export markets.

    Sidi-Aliyu noted that to further develop the cocoa sub-sector, the council intends to collaborate with Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN), Wageningen Unity(the Netherlands)and the Europe-Africa-Carribean-Pacific Liaison Liason Committee (COLEACP) to address challenges in the cocoa sector.

    He sought more partners and collaborators to get Nigeria move up above Cote D’voire and Ghana.

    The NEPC chief reassured that the Federal Government was strongly committed to the development of the non-oil export sector as the last defense of the economy.

    He said: ”The National Economic Council in 2017 established the National Committee on Export Promotion to ensure effective coordination of the zero oil plan in all the 36 states of the federation.”

  • FMARD to empower 2m youths, women in 3 years

    FMARD to empower 2m youths, women in 3 years

    The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development ( FMARD ) says it will empower about two million Nigerian youths and women in the first three years of its new initiative, Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprise ( LIFE ).

    The LIFE Programme Coordinator, Ms Keke Bongos-Ikwue, disclosed this on Tuesday at the commencement of registration of LIFE cooperatives at Ojokoro LCDA in Ifako/Ijaye Local Government, Lagos state.

    Bongos-Ikwue said that the LIFE was an initiative of the Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, targeting unemployed or underemployed women and youths.

    “We have been planning this programme for over two years and this is our first outing.

    “The pilot phase of the outing is being replicated in 24 states plus the Federal Capital Territory ( FCT ) simultaneously by different groups as we speak.

    Read also: Lagos empowers 150 women

    “We want to empower women and youths along the agricultural value chain of high value commodities like ground nut, palm products, wheat, rice, cashew nuts.

    “Also included are commodities like cassava, honey, cocoa, sugarcane, tomato, sesame seed, livestock dairy and aquaculture.

    “The second phase of this programme will cover the whole country within two years.

    “Research has shown that the major cause of insurgency is poverty and idleness; it has led many of the nation’s youth to look outside the country, causing them to become vulnerable and easily manipulated, and eventually some lose their lives.”

    The coordinator said the programme intended to directly empower approximately three million rural youths and women within five years of implementation.

    She added that it would also produce about 14 million metric tons of food in the 9,975 council wards across the 774 local government areas.

    According to her, the programme starts with registration of youths and women as LIFE clusters at the council/ward level to develop LIFE cooperative database.

    The LIFE coordinator said that all geopolitical zones in Nigeria would be visited, adding that the ministry was working with the state governments and local government authorities to achieve its aims.

    Ms Bongos-Ikwue said that the ministry was partnering with state and local governments, Bank of Industry, Bank of Agriculture, international partners and other ministries and agencies on the programme.

    The Special Adviser on Media to the Minister, Dr Olukayode Oyeleye, said that the programme was a developmental intervention, targeting an often overlooked and ignored group in Nigeria.

    Oyeleye said that the programme was to deal only with family enterprises, which had potential to grow.

    “This initiative is to help those already into small agribusiness to grow, who are constrained by finance or technology.

    “The team from FMARD has been divided into 12 to cover 24 states.

    “We will register the would-be beneficiaries and on the basis of the questionnaire they fill, we will collate and analyse to determine the kind of specific intervention to be given to each intended beneficiary.

    “The support we will grant them include access to finance, affordable agricultural inputs for sustainable production, agro-processing and packaging.

    “A robust marketing system that connects rural food surplus to urban cities will also be put in place for efficient market linkage and access,’’ Oyeleye said.

    Also speaking to the LIFE group in his office, the Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr Oluwatoyin Suarau commended the initiative but called for caution by the team.

    “We are in the time of politics and you cannot afford to give these would-be beneficiaries money as past experience shows that they can misuse it.

    “Also the age group you are concentrating on, which is 18 years to 35 years, are still majorly students, you have to ensure that your beneficiaries have tangible, visible existing farms or enterprise.

    “You also have to monitor these farmers very well to ensure success of the programme.

    “On our part in the state, we will work with you to verify and identify your beneficiaries.

    “Once again, I want to thank you for including Lagos in the pilot stage of this intervention,’’ the commissioner said.

    NAN

  • Nigeria eyes over N240b from cocoa export

    Nigeria is expecting over N240 billion revenue from the sale of cocoa this year as demand for the product soars in the global market.

    The report on the exportation of cocoa beans through the sea ports is commendable. The country is expected to produce over 300,000 metric  tonnes of the produce this year because of the favourable weather experienced in the last quarter of the year.

    According to exporters operating at the Lagos ports, a large chunk of cocoa had been exported this year.

    The International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO) had also said a large production of the beans would be witnessed this year in West Africa.

    ICCO said Nigeria and Cameroon were reporting good yields and high quality from harvest.

    The organisation noted that top producers- Ivory Coast had projected to realise $3.75billion from its production, Ghana-$1.98billion, Nigeria-$704million and Cameroon-$578million. These constitute 70per cent of the total global cocoa production.

    The retail market for chocolate candy is valued at $143 billion this year, according to reports.

    Also, it projected a 21.5 per cent increase in cocoa production this year  in the world market.

    It was gathered that a metric ton of the beans has gone up to $2,122.32 from $1,945 per metric ton since June, because of the positive demand  for cocoa made products like cereals and chocolate.

    A research firm, Business Monitor International (BMI) had projected a growth rate of 15.2 per cent for cocoa production in the same period.

    Already, ICCO had said traders were talking of increased demand as prices are now attractive for grinders and chocolate manufacturers.

    Meanwhile, the President, Cocoa Association of Nigeria (CAN), Sayina Rimanhad said cocoa producers should expect increased yields.

    Riman said some cocoa beans had been stuck with about two-thirds of their produce due to the glut in the world market.

    The 2016/2017 cocoa season, which ended  about three months ago, recorded huge surplus of 720,000 metric tonnes of cocoa beans valued at N504.1 billion ($1.4billion).

    Based on the huge surplus, the price of the beans went down by 39.99 per cent from $3,241 to $1,945 per metric ton between October last year and June this year. The price suddenly however went up geometrically to $2, 122.32 since October this year.

    According to ICCO, production had risen from 3.97million tonnes to 4. 69 million tonnes.

    Last year, contrary to the current surplus, earnings from cocoa export by Nigeria dropped due  to deficit in production.

    Last year, ICCO had said major West African cocoa producers, Nigeria, Ghana and Ivory Coast would record a deficit of 147,000 metric tonnes valued at N128.73 billion ($429.1) from cocoa production in the first quarter of the year because of the effect of the harmattan, which   had plundered cocoa flowers and buds off trees before they grew into pods.

    It also predicted that demand would outstrip supply in 2016, as global industry deficit forecast was estimated at 308,000 from its earlier forecast of 113,000 tonnes in its previous report in February, 2016.

    But the forecast failed because of the favourable weather observed in West Africa in the second and third quarters of the year.