Despite the establishment of the National Cocoa Management Committee (NCMC), targeted at transforming the fortune of the industry in Nigeria, its operations has been hampered in the last two years by lack of funding.

Stakeholders say the development negatively impacted the body from performing its statutory regulatory responsibilities and legal status, to transform it into a board through the backing of the National Assembly.

In an open letter addressed to President Bola Tinubu, signed by the Director General of Cocoa Roundtable Initiative (CORI), Comrade Adeola Adegoke, who doubles as National President, Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria (CFAN), the sector players appealed for the funding and transformation of the NCMC into board, funding of the National Task Force on EUDR and subsidised input support to the cocoa farmers, to enhance cocoa production and productivity in 2025.

“Your Excellency, we believe the case of cocoa had been settled with the setting-up of the NCMC, but funding has continuously affect the operations of the Committee in the area of quality control, contract arbitration to safe guide investors, funding, child labour monitoring & remediation, deforestation and afforestration programme, capacity building and development, cocoa and agro forestry intensification, cocoa communities rural infrastructures, post harvest challenges, traceability, climate change, monitoring and evaluation of various sustainability projects and activities, among others.

“Mr. President, it is interesting to note that the performance of the cocoa sector in the last one year in the generation of FX and top earnings in the non-crude oil sector cannot be taken for granted. According to the NBS report, the cocoa exports rose by 304 per cent in the first quarter (Q1) of 2024 due to higher demand and weak naira.

“The country’s cocoa exports, which accounted for 42.4 per cent of the N1.04tr agricultural exports for the period, surged to N438.7b in the first quarter of 2024 from N108.6b in the corresponding period of 2023. And the good prospect of this development in the sector is in the stabilisation of the price of cocoa, which is not less than N10m per Metric Ton in the last one year,” he said.

Adegoke disclosed that the NCMC was put in place in August 2022 by the past administration due to pressures mounted by the smallholder cocoa farmers under Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria (CFAN) that condemned the total free market of the cocoa industry without regulation in consideration of the sector’s contribution to the economy, challenges confronting the smallholder cocoa farmers due to low production, productivity – post harvest challenges, which affect quality and the need to come up with the necessary framework on EUDR implementation, which poses future challenges to the global cocoa market future.

“The Cocoa Roundtable Initiative appeals to your Excellency to passionately look into the funding of this critical sector, in order not to reverse the present prosperity of our cocoa farmers through EU sanctioning of any unsustainable cocoa place on EU market after 2024 December, but now to be extended by another 12 months. This EU policy might affect Nigeria cocoa sector if proper regulation, funding and legal framework to support NCMC and NTF operations to combat the industry challenges are not put in place.

“Mr. President should not forget that one of his promises during his campaign was to provide boards for some critical agricultural commodities, which will not be involved in buying but developing and regulating such sector of which cocoa should take preference as a leading FX provider and internal revenue generation in the country.

“We urge Mr. President, Governors of the cocoa producing states and lovers of the Nigerian cocoa industry to look into the funding and legal framework support to NCMC through the National Assembly, in order to save the industry from regulatory lapses that could undermine the present gains of high price of cocoa beans that is not less than N10m per MT that our cocoa farmers are currently enjoying and Nigeria determination to become the highest cocoa producing country in West Africa before 2027.

“We assure Mr. President and the industry players that CORI will continue to collaborate with all relevant partners to bring development into the sector and deepen sustainable practices in our supply chain for a robust cocoa economy and transformative prosperity of our cocoa farmers livelihoods.”