The Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria (CFAN) has called on President Bola Tinubu’s government to establish a regulatory board that will mainly focus on the promotion and development of the industry.
The National President of the association, Comrade Adeola Adegoke, while addressing journalists, noted that the farmers are requesting a regulatory board that will not be involved in the buying and selling of the cocoa beans but solely for the development of the industry across the supply chain on a sustainable path.
Adegoke said that the dissolution of the Cocoa Board was like throwing away the baby with dirty water due to the setbacks the industry suffered thereafter, adding that farmers cannot forget in a hurry the pain suffered due to the price stabilization policy of the dissolved Cocoa Board before 1986 that enslaved smallholder cocoa farmers completely.
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“No doubt, Nigeria has witnessed a negative paradigm shift in all spheres of the industry after the dissolution, especially in production, productivity, quality, livelihood, deforestation, GAP, extension, policy and plan, research and development, ecosystems, and child labor, among others.
“It has become imperative to reiterate and clarify our position regarding our demand for a Regulatory Board from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in order to reposition the cocoa industry for growth, of which some erroneous impression is being generated that cocoa farmers demand for a Marketing Board instead.
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He explained that the position of the association about the price stabilization policy of the dissolved Cocoa Board led to her downfall, but not the overall promotion and development mandate of the Board that gave rise to giant production, productivity, and good quality of cocoa beans with the best aroma in the 1960s and early 1970s in West Africa.
