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By Emmanuel Adeleke
The European Union (EU) has threatened to reject cocoa produced in Nigeria from 2022 due to a fall in the commodity’s quality,
The President, Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria (CFAN), Adeola Adegoke, disclosed this at a press conference in Abuja.
He said that cocoa farmers arw currently apprehensive over the imminent rejection of the product by the EU.
Adegoke, who was speaking ahead of the 2021 CFAN summit, noted that the EU policy on overdose of chemicals on Nigeria’s cocoa was what could cause the rejection of the commodity.
He said: “Our buyers are complaining on quality. They are now threatening Nigeria that they are going to reject our cocoa and that is a very serious issue that would be addressed at the summit.
“We are also looking at the EU policy which says as long as we continue to use chemicals more than the original level, it will be rejected in 2022. Are we going to wait till 2022, like we did during the beans ban? We don’t need to wait for this. So the summit will address these issues.”
Adegoke also explained that the 250,000 metric tonnes of cocoa, which the country presently produces, was abysmally low when compared to other countries.
“This is very important in our drive. Presently, it is unacceptable to us as stakeholders for Nigeria that have the land, resources and manpower to be producing 250,000MT, where Ivory Coast that does not enjoy the land that we have produces about 2.5 million to 2.8 million MT. Even Ghana produces 1.5 million MT,” he added.