Cross River cocoa industry needs policy intervention – Agara

From Aniekan Aniekan, Calabar

Chief Chris Agara, the Chairman of AA Universal, an agro-based firm, says the cocoa industry in the state needs policy intervention.

Chief Chris Agara, whose firm is the concessionaire of the Cross River State Cocoa Processing Plant in Ikom, spoke in an interview.

He disclosed that most cocoa produced in the state is carted away by merchants and the data is never recorded for the state.

He said this situation can be reversed through a policy and guarantee by the state government to ensure cocoa produced in the state is also processed within the state.

“Most of the cocoa produced in Cross River State is taken away from the state by merchants.

“One of the disadvantages of this is that the data for Cross River State cocoa is never recorded for Cross River.

“If there are grants and support for farmers like chemicals and fertiliser from the international community, it should come to Cross River farmers because the data is recorded for Cross River.

“These are the things that our people don’t know or know and they are underplaying it.

“We need guarantees from the state government through a policy to ensure that Cross River State cocoa is processed in Cross River,” he said.

He also called for greater collaboration with the federal government, saying the cocoa industry in the country can generate an annual income of between 400 and 600 million dollars.

He said this will be possible through collaboration to ensure that, at the end of the day, cocoa is sold at a higher and more stable international price that never fluctuates.

Besides this, he said his firm is working on funding with the International Finance Institute and this needs guarantees from the federal government.

He pledged to work with his partners to revamp the cocoa industry in Nigeria, particularly in Cross River State, and also scale up production in the state to at least 3.5 tonnes per hectare from the present 400kg per hectare.