Mr. Adeola Adegoke, President of the Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria (CFAN), has revealed that Nigeria loses N60 billion a year due to non-collection of the Living Income Differential (LID).
The funds will be used to help small-scale farmers.
Adegoke made the announcement on the sidelines of a workshop organized by Agricultural Policy Research in Africa (APRA) and the University of Ibadan on Thursday in Abuja.
The goal of the workshop was to analyze cocoa production policy and enhance the country’s cocoa production.
Cocoa commercialization in Nigeria: Issues, Prospects, and Policy Requirements was the subject of the workshop.
According to Adegoke, the group is ready to help the country reclaim its lost reputation in the cocoa-producing community.
“In the 1960s, Nigeria was the world’s second-largest cocoa producer, generating 590,000 tonnes”.
“When the oil boom hit, cocoa was pushed to the sidelines, but in the last two months, cocoa has outperformed oil in terms of foreign exchange profits.”
“It indicates that the current foreign exchange imbalance can only be resolved through the economy… As of now, cocoa is Nigeria’s second-largest export after oil. When you look at the %, you can see how big the opportunity is”.