The Institute, in collaboration with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), has organized a training workshop for cocoa farmers on best agricultural practices and safe use of pesticides on cocoa. The training is in line with the efforts of the Federal Government to diversify to non-oil exports, develop better production of cocoa and its export. No fewer than 100 cocoa farmers attended the one-day training held at Cocoa Farmers’ Association of Nigeria (CFAN) building in Osogbo recently. The beneficiaries of the training were also urged to embrace modern methods of cultivating the crop. This will the improve the productivity of the crop and enhance quality of cocoa beans they produce which would result in more income for farmers as well as the country at large.

According to Benson Oseni, Trade Promotion Adviser to NEPC, who represented the Executive Director, Ezra Yukusak, the training would aid the production of standard products by the farmers. In his words: “It is about capacity development initiative for our (cocoa) producers. We collaborated with CRIN to boost cocoa farmers’ capacity to produce standard products as accepted in the international market. Cocoa is a competitive product in the international market. For us in Nigeria, it is a strategic product. We have to develop the product itself, so that it can compete favourably and healthily with cocoa from other countries. We are not only developing them to produce, but to do so with more yields. If an average cocoa farmer is producing twenty tons, this capacity programme will make him produce forty tons. We will be able to satisfy both local and international demands.”

The Executive Director of CRIN, Dr. Patrick Adebola, represented by the Director of Training, Dr. Sunday Agbeniyi, charged the cocoa farmers to adopt modern methods of cultivation to improve quality and ensure the competitiveness of the cocoa beans in the international market.
Osun State Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Adebayo Adewole, represented by Adegbite Adeniyi, the Director of Osun State Produce Services, in his remarks, stated that through the training the dream of having zero oil economy would be achieved. He commended CRIN and NEPC for organizing the workshop.
The Chairman of CFAN, Osun State, Raji Musa Akanni, commended the organisations for the training saying that, “it will go a long way to prevent cocoa farmers from wrong practices like sun-drying cocoa produce along the road and using wrong chemicals.”