CAN backs govt's cocoa industry's promotion scheme

THE Growth Enhancement Support Scheme (GESS) of the Federal Government, targeted at improving the quantity and quality of cocoa production in the country has received the support of the Cocoa Association of Nigeria (CAN), which described the programme as capable of boosting the country's cocoa economy.The GESS, which is part of the Cocoa Transformation Agenda (CocTA) to bring the country back to the glorious years of high production and redirect the path of the national economy from the mono-commodity petroleum-based one, is aimed at providing support for farmers and marketers of the agro-commodity.The National President of the association, which is the umbrella body of all stakeholders in the country's cocoa industry, Sayina Rimanho lauded the efforts of the government and said that the new initiative would create the necessary environment for the required growth.He, however, appealed to members of CAN to support the new programme and bear the difficulties they might encounter in its implementation in order to reap maximum benefits from the initiative.Riman stated that the present challenges being experienced by cocoa farmers are inevitable since the scheme is new and quite different from what they had been used to in the past.Addressing cocoa farmers, who paid him a visit at the headquarters of the association in Akure recently, he said the system introduced by CocTA was a clear departure from the old system, which allowed for leakages.The CAN president lamented that despite the huge amount of money spent on cocoa input procurement since 2003, there was no visible commensurate impact either in output or farmer welfare in the industry.According to him, the new system was unique as it places the farmers in charge of their destiny, as they would get their input directly by paying half the cost of the inputs captured in the GES scheme.He said, 'the new scheme is significantly different from the previous ones because rather than purchase inputs and distribute to farmers the new scheme allows farmers to purchase only what they need.'He added that, under the GES scheme, farmers are directly linked with genuine input providers, who sell to farmers at company price, thereby eliminating middlemen and racketeers.The Chairman of the Ondo State Farmers' Congress, Joshua Oyedele expressed the support of the body to the scheme.He noted that the explanation given by the CAN president has doused all the doubts and anxieties that farmers had about the scheme, adding that farmers need information on the process of collecting the inputs
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