On October 19, at the Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria’s 2nd Annual Cocoa Festival in Abuja, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) officially launched its $22 million, five-year Traceability and Resilience in Agriculture and Cocoa Ecosystems (TRACE) Project with important players in Nigeria’s cocoa industry.
The USDA’s Food for Progress programme includes the TRACE initiative, which helps developing nations increase agricultural commerce and productivity. Lutheran World Relief, a division of Corus International, is carrying out the TRACE Project. In order to boost agricultural production along Nigeria’s cocoa value chain, the project advocates for climate-smart farming practises. Nigerian cocoa will be more marketable and traceable if it is made easy to record the origin, parties involved, and processes. TRACE will be put into effect in all states that produce cocoa.
The USDA’s Food for Progress programme includes the TRACE initiative, which helps developing nations increase agricultural commerce and productivity. Lutheran World Relief, a division of Corus International, is carrying out the TRACE Project. In order to boost agricultural production along Nigeria’s cocoa value chain, the project advocates for climate-smart farming practises.
Nigerian cocoa will be more marketable and traceable if it is made easy to record the origin, parties involved, and processes. The states that produce cocoa—Abia, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Ekiti, Ondo, and Osun—will all be subject to the TRACE programm. We’re overjoyed to see this new cocoa enterprise take off and help a vital area of Nigerian agriculture. I’m pleased to report that this project enhances two current cashew production initiatives in Nigeria: one was introduced in 2019 and aims to increase the competitiveness of Nigerian cashew producers; the other was introduced in 2020 and helps expand trade for cashew processors in Nigeria and other West African countries by providing better access to financing.
The Nigerian federal and state governments, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN), Ecometrica, and C-Lever.org are among the international and Nigerian partners in the project consortium. Lutheran World Relief will receive technical support from C-Lever.org.
A display of cocoa goods and associated stakeholders from the government, academia, and agriculture sectors will also be part of the event in Abuja.