Akeredolu targets 150,000MT cocoa production in four years

ONDO State Governor, Mr Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, has charged cocoa value-chain stakeholders in the state to urgently strategise on means of increasing the annual output, in order to consolidate the position of the state as the number one cocoa-producing state in Nigeria.

This was contained in an address delivered by the chairman, Cocoa Revolution and Management Agency, Pastor Akin Olotu, at the maiden cocoa stakeholders’ meeting, held in Akure, the state capital.

Olotu, who is also the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Agric and Agribusiness, noted with dismay that despite the fact that the state remains the number one cocoa-producing state in Nigeria, the annual production is an average of 80,000 metric tonnes, from over 153,000 hectares of cocoa farms, translating to about 500kg average yield per hectare.

Olotu said although the total tonnage graded in the state in 2020 was the highest in the last 15 years, the development is still unacceptable.

Governor Akeredolu’s administration, according to him, has distributed 2,200,000 improved cocoa seedlings, hence its expectation for higher output. He told the stakeholders that the governor has set a target of 150,000 metric tonnes minimum output within the next four years.

He announced that Governor Akeredolu has upgraded the Cocoa Revolution Project to a full-fledged agency of government, now known as Cocoa Revolution and Management Agency, to oversee the cocoa value chain.

At the meeting, November 1 to November 6 was set aside as Cocoa Week in the state, an event scheduled to be an annual event.

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Akeredolu targets 150,000MT cocoa production in four years