Nigeria: Cocoa and coffee farmers in Taraba face many hurdles

Published 2024년 10월 31일

Tridge summary

The article highlights the potential of MayoSelbe and other communities in Taraba State, Nigeria, to grow cash and food crops, particularly cocoa and coffee, due to the fertile land. However, the lack of knowledge and absence of buyers have prevented farmers from maximizing this potential. The article also notes that middle men from the southern part of the country dominate the cocoa beans business in Taraba State, exploiting farmers in Gashaka. It is recommended that farmers form a union to encourage the cultivation of tea, coffee, palm kernel, and cocoa in commercial quantities and that the Taraba State government should focus its attention on the area to attract buyers and encourage more farmers to participate in cocoa farming. Despite the potential for coffee cultivation in the area, it is not being fully utilized. The article also mentions that residents are making their fortune through garri processing and cassava farming.

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Original content

MayoSelbe and other communities in Gashaka Local Government Area of Taraba State are sleeping on gold mine but lack of knowledge of the potential of their environment has prevented them from harnessing it. The land, which is vast and fertile, has the potential of growing cocoa, coffee, oil palm and other cash and food crops in commercial quantity but only a few in the community take the advantage of growing these cash crops, especially cocoa and coffee. Mr Aaron Johnson, one of the cocoa farmers in MayoSelbe, told Daily Trust that cocoa and coffee seed were first distributed to some interested farmers in 1967. Before then, researchers from Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria had discovered that the Gashaka area had the potential of growing cocoa and coffee in commercial quantity. “The experimental farm located along MayoSelbe-Ago,” Johnson said, is a clear indication of such potential as the farm is yielding top quality cocoa and coffee yearly since its establishment 53 years ago. ...

Source: Daily Trust (ng)