This would not only generate additional export earnings for the country but also limit rural exodus by creating jobs.

Within the framework of its Transformation Acceleration Plan, the Gabonese government plans to increase national cocoa production from 250 tons in 2022 to 3,000 tons in 2025, that is, 12 times the current amount. Although this objective is still only half of what the country produced half a century ago, it would nevertheless allow it to re-enter the circle of large African cocoa producers.

To achieve this, the General Directorate of the Stabilization and Equalization Funds of Gabon (Castaib) launched the Young Coffee and Cocoa Entrepreneurs (Jecca) project three years ago, which has allowed the creation of 409 hectares of cocoa plantations. The goal is to plant 1,000 hectares by 2025, reports Le Nouveau Gabon.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture, brown gold supports around 3,000 Gabonese farmers. Between 1970 and 2015, national cocoa production fell from 6,000 tonnes to just 53, weakened by fluctuating world prices and a lack of support from successive governments. In 2020, it had increased to 109 tons before falling again to 53 tons in 2020, due to health measures against Covid-19.

Source: EcomNewsAfrique