Center celebrates International Tea and Coffee Day

The Centre for Coffee and Tea Initiative (CCTI) in Africa, has called for the establishment of the National Coffee and Tea Council to promote the production of tea and coffee in the country

The Founder of the Center, Mr. Innocent Mbonu, made the call on Wednesday in Abuja at a program to mark International Coffee and Tea Day.

"We have gone to the National Assembly with a bill, and very soon, we are going to have the National Coffee and Tea Council that will take care of activities pertaining to tea and coffee in Nigeria."

"About 23 states can produce coffee in Nigeria without stress, as well as the highland tea and the lowland tea, as well as coffee."

"So we want to see how we can sensitize every stakeholder so that Nigeria will produce coffee and tea."

"Tea and coffee are next to oil; Ethiopia is using it as their foreign exchange."

"In Nigeria, the lands are there; they are fertile both in the north, south, east, and west; everywhere is fertile for growth, so why don't we do it ourselves?" Mbonu added.

According to him, most of the coffee and tea produced on the Mambila Plateau in Taraba ended up in the hands of the French through Cameroon.

"The French people produce it as if it were made in France," he claimed, adding that Nigeria should take measures to properly utilize the resources.

Mbano said Nigeria should strengthen its relations with Ethiopia to tap into its experience and expertise in tea and coffee production.

Also, the Ethiopian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Yonas Sanbe, said that both countries could leverage on their populations to strengthen bilateral relations in the area of tea and coffee production.

He said that Ethiopia consumed about 50 percent of the coffee it produced, while the rest was exported.

"We are trying to diversify our economy from agriculture to promote foreign exchange, which Nigeria can also take a cue from," he said.

Meanwhile, the Director General of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Mr. Doko Ibrahim, said that the council's efforts had led to the popularization of various products.

Ibrahim said one of the products is Moringa tea, which has been medically proven to be essential for some classes of dietetic patients.

"Under the RMRDC boosting program, the council has supplied tea seedlings to tea farmers on the Mambila plateau and further supported them with tea processing equipment," he said.