NAN-AE-4
Coffee
By Chidinma Ewunonu-Aluko
Ibadan, Nov.13, 2017 (NAN) The National Coffee and Tea Association of Nigeria (NACOFTAN) and the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN) on Monday in Ibadan signed a Memorandum of Understanding on coffee revitalisation project fund.
Dr Rotimi Ipinmoroti, the Chairman of Coffee and Tea Value-Chain Research Committee, CRIN, who spoke at the event in Ibadan, said that the International African Coffee Organisation (IACO) fund was a grant.
He said that if the grant was well utilised by coffee farmers in the first five years, they would have a renewed chance to obtain another grant.
He said that CRIN was involved in the project because it also had a mandate to promote coffee production, adding that funds for such projects ought to be released to farmers through a government agency.
“We don’t need fake or political farmers who don’t have coffee farms; rather, we need people that will use the money judiciously for coffee farming.
“Coffee sells even more than cocoa if well-processed, it has the capacity of boosting the farmers’ income and the country’s economy; so we need to have plans for improved coffee production,’’ he said.
The Acting Director of CRIN, Dr Olayiwola Olubamiwa, pledged that the institute would utilise and manage the money well whenever it was released.
Olayiwola, who was represented by the CRIN Director of Farming Systems Research, Dr Amos Famaye, said that coffee had a lot of medicinal and economic values.
He said that the new funding arrangement would refocus the vision of coffee farmers and re-awaken them, while facilitating the Federal Government’s efforts to diversify the national economy through agriculture.
Also speaking, the Acting President of NACOFTAN, Alhaji Oladunjoye Olumide, urged coffee farmers to work harder to realise the goals of the project.
“The project will start next year, our plan is to surpass the feats of cocoa farmers within some years; so, all hands must be on deck; we thank CRIN for its support so far,” he said.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the 25-million-dollar IACO fund, which is set up for 25 coffee-producing countries, will be sponsored by the African Development Bank (AfDB). (NAN)
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