FG woos European investors for one-million-hectare tree crops expansion
The federal government will on Thursday present Nigeria’s one-million-hectare tree crops expansion programme to European cocoa industry leaders and investors in Brussels, Belgium, as part of efforts to attract investment and expand agricultural production.
The presentation will take place at the Nigeria/West Africa Cocoa Origins–EU Industry Match-Making Forum, organised on the sidelines of the Nigeria–Belgium-Luxembourg Business Forum.
The initiative is being coordinated by the Agribusiness and Productivity Enhancement Project Management Office (AgPE PMO) in the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Agribusiness, under the Office of the Vice-President, in partnership with the EU–Nigeria Agribusiness Platform (EUNAP).
According to a joint statement issued by the organisations on Thursday, the presentation will be the first time the programme is being introduced to a European audience, with cocoa expected to account for a significant share of the proposed expansion.
The programme seeks to expand Nigeria’s tree crops production while ensuring that new farms are established without deforestation and that their locations and production processes can be traced.
The presentation comes ahead of the implementation of the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) for large and medium-sized operators on December 30, 2026.
The government is expected to address concerns from European buyers about where new cocoa farms will be established, how individual plots will be traced from the outset and how production can increase without destroying forests.
Nigeria currently has more than 350,000 cocoa-farming families cultivating over 1.4 million hectares, according to the statement.
