NAERLS calls for improvement on Cocoa value chain

The National Agriculture Extension Research and Liaison Services (NAERLS) on Wednesday called for more value addition to the cocoa sector to boost the nation’s economy.

The Director-General of NAERLS, Prof. Emmanuel Ikani, said this in an interview in Lagos.

Ikani said that the time was ripe to develop cocoa value chain, rather than exporting cocoa pods at lower rates.

“Since the cultivation of cocoa began in Nigeria, we have only concentrated on the farming aspect and have not further delved into its value chain improvement.

“All the while, all we have been doing is the exportation of raw cocoa pods, this is not the best for us as a country; we must begin to look for value addition to locally cultivated cocoa.

“After harvesting, we must go on to processing, packaging, storage and look for avenues to penetrate the international markets with our cocoa products.

“What we need do is to make a shift to value addition of cocoa produced locally so as to have Nigerian chocolate and beverages in the market.

“We can use every part of the cocoa crop if we improve the value chain. The husk from the cocoa which is usually discarded as waste, can be used to provide bird feed.

“If processed further, extracts from the cocoa husk, can be used to manufacture cosmetic products such as black soaps that can be sold at the international market,” he said.

Ikani noted that focusing on value addition before exporting raw cocoa could increase the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

According to him, through value addition the country can get the income to boost its economy.

“The world is waiting for our cocoa, because apart from Ghana, Nigeria is one of the largest producers of cocoa in the world,’’ he said.

He said the country’s cocoa was in high demand at the global market, noting that the only problem was the need to meet up with the international standards on quality.

“It is time to develop our cocoa sector as petroleum is no longer attractive, following its fluctuating prices in the global market.

“A component derived from cocoa called Pectin is also used for the production of pharmaceutical drugs as emulsifiers and thickener.

“Cocoa can also be further processed into cocoa butter for consumption and cosmetics,” Ikani said.