Improved cocoa, oil palm production will boost Nigeria’s GDP, say planters 

Amid dwindling public revenue, the Incorporated Society of Planters (ISP) has said Nigeria’s cocoa and oil palm production can contribute significantly to the nation’s Gross domestic product (GDP) if potential of the industry are properly harnessed.

The organisation claimed that Nigeria, formerly a leading cocoa producer, had slipped in the rankings owing to neglect of the sector, particularly, application of old age technologies and outdated farming techniques in the production processes.

The Protem Vice Chairman of ISP, Africa, Fatai Afolabi, stated this at a media briefing, ahead of the launch of the Africa chapter of the association slated for May 24, 2024 in Abuja.

He noted that the establishment of ISP in Nigeria would help create an African hub that will act as a regional organisation.

Nigeria is currently the fourth largest producer of cocoa globally. The country rakes in about N34b yearly from exporting cocoa beans alone. This is besides other revenues from cocoa by-products like butter, cake, liquor and powder.

While the country trails Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana and Indonesia behind, its output is still comparatively low. Cote d’Ivoire produces 2,200,000 tons of cocoa beans yearly; while Nigeria’s total yearly output is about 340,163 tons.

Also, though, there has been an increase in palm oil production Nigeria in the last few years, the country, at present, imports palm oil to the tune of about one million metric tonnes to supplement the local production to meet the high demand.

Afolabi noted the country cannot rely on planting materials and methods dating back 70 years while expecting same result as that of those using modern technologies and techniques.

Stressing the need for Nigeria to learn from countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, and Ireland, he said the forthcoming event will advance sustainable agriculture and foster collaboration among planters in the African continent.

He said: “There was a time when Nigeria was number three, but we slid down, occupying number five in the world. What the rest of the world like Malaysia, Indonesia Colombia and even Ireland that have overtaken Nigeria in the oil palm sector is doing is that they have sustained aggressive production.

“Definitely, in Nigeria today, the paradigm has changed. We cannot continue to do planting the way it was done 50 years ago, when Nigeria held sway as the largest producer of palm oil. The only reason for instance why Malaysia and Indonesia have taken over Nigeria in palm oil is that they have changed their game in how they plant….”

He said the launch of ISP in Nigeria would address the issue of labour shortage in the country’s oil palm plantation sector, minimise operational cost and improve the yield of palm oil, which in turn would increase the income of players, including the smallholder farmers.

Chairman of the ISP, Africa, Shermal Perera, advised Nigeria to emulate the strides made by Malaysia in oil palm production, recalling that the Asian country had one time learnt from many African countries.

He said: “The important thing we are bringing to Nigeria in terms of benefits is capacity building and we have seen that very clearly with what has happened between Malaysia and Indonesia.

“As you all know, Malaysia is still a leading country in oil palm. We are now moving into a space of computers, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and a lot of modern development.

“We started at a very humble beginning learning from Nigeria, and many countries in Africa. What happened was we had developed oil palm, cocoa and rubber into paddy, high standard and high efficiency. Thereafter, most of our managers, general managers, and supervisors were sought after by the industry in Indonesia.

“And it is quite clear that some of us went over to Indonesia and developed oil palm cocoa, rubber making it today a country that has its own people developing these crops and making the country into a very well established agriculture country.