Agriculture Ministry to Undertake Study of Cocoa Industry

The Ministry of Agriculture and Landswill be undertaking a study of the cocoa industry with the aim of increasing production in this sector.
Minister Roger Clarke, who was contributing to the 2007/08 budget debate today (April 18) in Gordon House, said that the United States Agency for International Development has offered to fund approximately 75 per cent of the cost of the study.
The intention, he said, is to increase acreages under production to achieve exports of 1,400 tonnes within the next five years. “A key strategy in this regard is to move up higher on the value chain, bearing in mind the possibilities that will now exist in the European market,” he stated.
Meanwhile, he said that the Ministry is in the process of formulating a market-driven mechanism for setting cocoa price, to ensure more timely adjustments in price to provide incentives for farmers to maintain existing plants and establish new acreages.