Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND) has urged government at all levels and other development partners to utilise the economic potentials available in cocoa production to cushion the effect of global oil doom.

PIND Executive Director, Dr. Dara Akala, who said this yesterday at the cocoa value-chain study validation workshop in Akure, hinged the assurance on a recent analysis carried out on cocoa value chain in the country.

Akala noted that it is the tradition of the organization in the Niger Delta region to gather stakeholders to validate the interesting findings from research conducted in any area of focus.

According to him, PIND initiated the cocoa value chain study to diagnose the cocoa sector with a view to understanding the structure of the industry in the Niger Delta.

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The executive director said it is imperative for key stakeholders to take advantage of the increased market opportunities in the sector, identifying key value chains and conduct cocoa stakeholders’ mapping.

The PIND Market Development Projects Manager, James Elekwachi, who led the value chain study, said: ‘’Cocoa sector has the growth potential and the opportunity to increase income and employment for millions of people, especially the unskilled and semi-skilled in the region.”

Meanwhile, Ondo State Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, represented by his Senior Special Assistant on Agriculture and Agric Business, Pastor Akin Olotu, stated that the state government had embarked on several revolutionary measures to optimally utilize the cocoa potentials in the state for massive development.

Culled from: Guardian

Image Credit: Cargill