Nigeria worried EU will reject cocoa in 2022

Nigeria is worrying about the risk of having their cocoa rejected by the European Union in 2022, due to quality concerns.

During a press conference in Abuja last week, Adeola Adegoke, President of the Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria (CFAN), revealed that there were concerns among farmers that the European Union would refuse their cocoa in 2022.

Our buyers are complaining on quality. They are now threatening Nigeria that they are going to reject our cocoa, and that is a very serious issue.

Adeola Adegoke, President of the Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria (CFAN)

The reason for the concern, comes down to quality, which is said to have fallen in comparison to previous years, and the levels of chemicals present.

With regards the latter issue, the EU has a policy on acceptable levels of chemicals that can be present in foodstuffs, and this is cited in reports as being one of the factors inspectors are monitoring in Nigerian Cocoa.

We are also looking at the EU policy, which says as long as we continue to use chemicals more than the original level, it will be rejected in 2022.

Adeola Adegoke, President of the Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria (CFAN)

It seems the President of the CFAN, is actively seeking to address the issue ahead of the decision, asking “are we going to wait till 2022, like we did during the beans ban? We don’t need to wait for this. So the summit will address these issues.”

Adegoke is referring to the imminent 2021 CFAN Summit, where the quality of the country’s cocoa, as well as the quantity it produces, will be topics of discussion.

He expressed his dismay at the relatively low production level of Nigeria, when compared to their neighbouring countries Ghana and Cote D’Ivoire.

Presently it is unacceptable to us as stakeholders for Nigeria to have the land, resources and manpower and be producing 250,000MT, where Ivory Coast that does not enjoy the land that we have, produces about 2.5 million to 2.8 million MT. Even Ghana produces 1.5 million MT.

Adeola Adegoke, President of the Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria (CFAN)

Adegoke may be correct about the lost opportunity of cocoa production in Nigeria by comparison to Cote d’Ivoire, but we hope he doesn’t follow their growth model, which saw the majority of the country’s forests destroyed in the process.

The reports about quality concerns have come from Nigerian sources, who have been interpreting the EU policy standards, and as far as we know there has been no statement from the EU. It remains to be seen if the situation is formally acknowledged, and how it might be addressed.

Excessive use of chemicals from pesticides for example, is more easily regulated than the Cadmium in beans that impacted some South American countries a few years ago.

 Bartalks

Tags: Nigeria, EU