Ooni moves to rescue cocoa farming

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, has begun his agricultural revolution initiative with a nursery plant of one million cocoa trees to be distributed to youths in Ile-Ife to empower them to be self-reliant. Unveiling the one million cocoa nurseries at a farm in Ife, the director of media and public affairs in […]

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, has begun his agricultural revolution initiative with a nursery plant of one million cocoa trees to be distributed to youths in Ile-Ife to empower them to be self-reliant.
Unveiling the one million cocoa nurseries at a farm in Ife, the director of media and public affairs in the palace of the Ooni, Mr Moses Olafare, said the monarch was determined to empower Ife youths economically and that he has identified agriculture as one of the areas to be employed to achieve the goal.
He said the one million cocoa nurseries farm was the first phase of the targeted 10 million of such farms and that thousands of youths would benefit from the initiative.
The palace spokesperson said the Ooni was not happy with the manner cocoa was neglected in the South-west and that the monarch was already motivating Ife youths to pay attention to agriculture, especially cocoa farming.
Adefare said: “The Ooni who is the grand patron of the Graduate Farmers Association of Nigeria, has imperatively chosen agriculture, cocoa to be specific, which now sells for about $3,000 dollars per tonne, as a perfect alternative to the dwindling crude oil.
“The Ooni is embarking on a scheme of the largest cocoa plantation nursery in Nigeria, targeting 10 million trees in which each youth would get 2,000 plants from the nursery stage. It is pertinent to say that we will not be alone in the scheme since there is room for partnership.”
He said Osun State government and the federal government have promised their support for the scheme. He also said a USA-based company, Dynamic Green Concept Ltd and the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN), are also ready to partner with the Ooni on the scheme.