By Obafemi Oredein

Special to Dow Jones Newswires

 

IBADAN, Nigeria--The government of Nigeria has inaugurated a committee to develop the regulation and monitoring of the activities in the country's cocoa sector and make the industry more transparent.

The 10-member National Cocoa Management Committee will develop a strategic plan aimed at establishing of a Nigerian Cocoa Board and serve as a regulatory body for the industry, according to a statement by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The committee will also work toward Nigeria joining the Living Income Differential initiative launched in 2019 by Ghana and Ivory Coast, the world's two leading cocoa producers, FMARD chief information officer Ezeaja Ikemefuna said.

The LID mandates a minimum price of $2,6000 a ton for cocoa and pays an additional $400 on every ton purchased to provide a living wage and support cocoa farmers in the two countries.

Ghana and Ivory Coast have centralized regulatory systems, but cocoa trading and marketing is managed by the private sector in Nigeria.

Muftau Abolarinwa, president of the Cocoa Association of Nigeria, and Adeola Adegoke, president of the Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria, are members of the new committee.

The Nigerian Cocoa Board, which purchased cocoa from farmers and exported the crop was abolished in 1986 when Nigeria liberalized its cocoa industry.

 

Write to Barcelona Editors at barcelonaeditors@dowjones.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

08-19-22 1223ET