Stakeholders in the cocoa value chain have advised the federal and state governments to take measures to tighten the monitoring of donors-funded agric projects in the country.
This advice is coming on the heels lapses discovered in many projects funded by donors across the country. Lapses, such as deficient civil works certified as complete, poor equipment certified as compliant with specifications, and under-delivery of services from contractual obligations have been identified by stakeholders.
Stakeholders, who spoke during the annual conference of the Farmers Development Union (FADU), convened to access the impact of Kokodola Project in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, said if there is proper monitoring, the aim of the funding would be defeated.
The Kokodola Project is implemented by Continaf, FADU and Oxfam Novib, in partnership with international buyers, Ferrero and Petra Foods, and powered by IDH, the Sustainable Trade Initiative.
The stakeholders observed that standard best practices were largely ignored and as such urged the government to improve monitoring of donor-projects and aid packages to make them accountable and responsive to the farmers.
One of the speakers, Prof Adegboyega Oguntade of Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State capital, said better managed projects would boost growth and increased farm incomes.
In a paper titled: Development projects: Ends within an unending cycles, Oguntade observed that since 2001, various intervention projects had been initiated and implemented in the cocoa value chain, which has failed to create meaningful impact in the lives of the farmers.
To transform the way cocoa is grown and dramatically boost farm yields and incomes, he advised the government and private sector to embark on projects that will improve farming practices and technologies for the benefit of cocoa producers.
Such projects, he added, should focus on improving outcomes, facilitating efficiency benchmarking for both productivity and environmental performance.
He called for collaboration between the industry and academia to improve the crop.
According to him, Kokodola was designed to and must have contributed to raising living standard of cocoa farmers.
He said: “If Kokodola has contributed to the well being of cocoa farmers in these ways, it has definitely contributed to the development of Nigeria’s economy.”
Oguntade, who is also the Managing Director, FUTA Business Development Company, called on farmers to embrace the culture of savings in cooperatives.
FADU Project Coordinator, Sir Victor Olowe, called for cooperation between FADU and partners for the betterment of the project.
According to Olowe, it has become necessary to re-evaluate the partnerships to protect the overall interest of the farmers and integrity of the country, hence the need to go back to the drawing-board.
Olowe added that the next few months is critical to the survival of the Kokodola Project, which has trained over 7000 cocoa farmers in Osun and Ondo states. The project also employs over 50 field workers who undertake training of farmers, monitoring and evaluation, certification and audit control, among other roles.
Team Leader, Cocoa Transformation Agenda, Dr. Peter Aikpokpo-dion, urged stakeholders and government to work together to reposition the cocoa industry.
The plant breeder who pioneered the latest hybrid cocoa pods, noted that for Nigeria to get the result it needs, “we should support the setting up of coordinating body that will take care of all challenges in the industry. The way the sector is organised is posing a problem. It is this platform that will bring all together under one roof and have issues resolved adequately and holistically.”
Tulip Nigeria Limited Managing Director, Chief Simon Conway-Jarret, noted that the Kokodola Project has had meaningful impact on the quality and quantity of cocoa beans bought and used in the company.
He said Theobroma Cacao, the parent company, based in the Netherlands, grinds over 400,000 metric tonnes globally and would therefore only partner with groups and associations that can deliver on good quality cocoa beans.
Another partner, Dutch Sustainable Initiative, IDH, represented by the head, Africa Cassava Initiative, Mr. Cyril Ugwu, said the organisation is prepared to support any project that would bring benefit to farmers.
Ugwu noted that the Kokodola Project has had positive impact on the farmers, going by initial reports from the field. He urged FADU to make its assessment report available to IDH for review of its support to cocoa farmers under the project.
The Kokodola Project Manager, Mrs. Mopelola Fabunmi, informed that the project would undergo some significant changes in order to meet the emerging demands. She stated that farmers in the project area are already adopting the trainings on good agricultural, business, and organisational practices.
