Cocoa: 68,000 Farmers in Nigeria to benefit from U.S Intervention 

No fewer than 68,000 Nigerian farmers in Abia, Cross River, Ekiti, Akwa Ibom, Ondo and Osun States will benefit from the United States intervention in the country’s cocoa value chain.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food for Progress programme disclosed this in a statement following a cooperative agreement with Lutheran World Relief to strengthen cocoa production in Nigeria.

The statement revealed that the programme, worth $22 million, would be implemented over the next five years.

Speaking, the Counselor for Agricultural Affairs, U.S. Mission Nigeria, Dr. Gerald Smith, informed that the project would target farmers in low productivity but high promising areas.

“The objective is to increase cocoa productivity by leveraging climate-smart agricultural measures.

“The project will support improved access to inputs, technical resources and capacity, post-harvest processing and export markets.

“The project will employ an approach that enables farmers to produce more cocoa and preserve the land’s fertility and biodiversity,” said Smith.

Source: Agro Nigeria