Experts debate plan for National Cocoa Board
Agricultural specialists are warning that revival of Nigeria’s cocoa sector through a proposed National Cocoa Management Board depends on substantial investment and disciplined implementation, with stakeholders expressing concern that bureaucratic inefficiencies and corruption that plagued predecessor institutions could resurface. Development Agenda for Western Nigeria Commission director general Seye Oyeleye endorsed the federal initiative while emphasizing requirements for independence, farmer representation and technical expertise in areas including quality standards and international trade compliance.
Critics including Cocoa Association of Nigeria board chairman Victor Iyama, argued the liberalized market currently benefits producers more than historical centralized systems that contributed to output declining from 400,000 metric tons to 86,000 metric tons. Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency head Debo Akande recommended decentralization with regional oversight rather than national control, noting Indonesia’s failed cocoa board as a cautionary example.
Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria officials supported establishing regulatory frameworks to address quality lapses and traceability issues that have reduced the country’s global market share to six percent, while association president Mufutau Abolarinwa called for public hearings and emphasized keeping political interference and government funding separate from operations.
