With the current environment of economic uncertainty due to the volatility of oil price, there is urgent need for diversification and agricultural sector is the possible options for diversifying the Nigerian economy.
It is high time Nigeria takes its rightful place in cocoa production to diversify the economy. Cocoa was a major agricultural export commodity in Nigeria, and a top foreign exchange earner in the 1950s and 60s. Prior to the discovery of crude oil in commercial quantities in the 1970s, Nigeria was the world’s second-largest producer of cocoa.
With more than 14 states are cocoa-producing places, stakeholders called for the country to take advantage of the agro-forestry zones, the better varieties and human resources to boost cocoa production and by extension, diversify the economy.
Nigeria exported cocoa beans worth N209.89 billion in 2021, accounting for 41.6 per cent of the total export earnings by Nigeria in the year under review. A further breakdown of the data…
Source: Leadership Newspaper
