The Abia State government has directed the newly inaugurated State Cocoa Monitoring Team to curb the illicit activities of smugglers who traffic cocoa beans from the state to neighboring states, particularly through border villages.
Deputy Governor Ikechuckwu Emetu, while addressing the team, emphasized the need to utilize cocoa farming and its value chain as a potent tool to address youth unemployment in the state. He highlighted the potential of the cocoa sub-sector to boost Abia State’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
The monitoring team’s mandate includes conducting thorough searches on vehicles suspected of carrying cocoa to neighboring states, carrying out routine inspections of cocoa produce within Abia, and imposing fines on identified defaulters.
Recently, Abia State suffered about 4% loss in cocoa supply as a result of fire outbreak which destroyed up to 30 hectares of farmlands. This incident, coupled with the ongoing challenge of illegal cocoa smuggling, has placed immense pressure on the state’s cocoa sector and its contribution to the national economy.
Chairman of the Abia State chapter of the Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria, John Kalu, expressed optimism about the monitoring team’s ability to collaborate effectively with the state government in transforming the cocoa industry and agriculture as a whole.