Commercialization of Cocoa : Producers’ Sensitized On New Requirements

Cocoa producers’ organizations in the South West Region have been enjoined to shun illegal exportation of cocoa beans to neighboring Nigeria but rather follow the legal requirements to commercialize their produce. The General Manager of the National Cocoa and Coffee Board (NCCB), Michael Ndoping was speaking in Limbe on August 29, during a workshop that brought together cocoa producer organizations and other actors in the value chain. 
Mr. Ndoping revealed that about 50,000 metric tons of cocoa are illegally sold to Nigeria through some six outlets spread in the South West Region. This phenomenon of illicit sale of cocoa to the neighboring country, he stressed, is having a negative effect on the local economy through the loss of customs duties and foreign exchange. About FCFA 245 billion is lost to the illicit trade of cocoa going by the present cocoa prices of FCFA 4,500.
He therefore told the farmers to sell their produce to farmers’ organizations who will in turn organize recognized buyers so that farmers get the benefit of high prices. “You can sell your cocoa to whosoever you like but sell it legally. We are losing a lot in terms of customs duties and foreign exchange earnings,” he underlined.
With the entering into force of the African Continental Free Trade Area, the government has put in place new legal instruments which now permit cocoa to be exported via land, sea and air unlike in the past. It is within this context of the new regulation legalizing cocoa and coffee export by land, sea and...