Cross River State Government has collaborated with a French Coffee Firm, JR Farms, to develop and strengthen its coffee value chain.
Commissioner for Agriculture and Irrigation Development, Johnsen Ebokpo, in a statement, said that the State Government is distributing 1 million high-yielding Arabica and Robusta coffee species at a subsidized rate of N1,000 per seedling.
Ebokpo said already a team of 56 enumerators is currently being trained to profile prospective farmers and organize them into cooperatives.
The state official said the enumeration exercise will commence from Monday, May 26, to June 9, 2025.
The initiative, according to Ebokpo, “is to provide farmers with access to high-quality seedlings that are high-yielding. It also provides an opportunity for farmers to earn alternative income during the off-peak season. This will also help the state to earn foreign exchange as well as create jobs for our teeming population.”
“We appeal to the National and State House of Assembly members, Commissioners, local government chairmen, other state and local government appointees, ward Councillors, political and religious leaders including civil society organizations to mobilize their respective local farmers to take advantage of this unique opportunity to get enumerated and purchase subsidized hybrid coffee seedlings,” he said.
The commissioner, therefore, appealed to the general public to “get involved and harness this unique opportunity for our general shared prosperity.”
