Farmers Condemn ₦250,000 Levy on Cocoa Cultivation

News in Brief

• -Cocoa farmers in Ondo State have appealed to the governor to suspend a levy in forest reserves, describing it as financially crippling to smallholder farmers.
• -The association highlighted that the levy disproportionately burdens the farmers compared to large investors who benefit from cheaper, long-term permits.
• Cocoa farmers in Nigeria have called on Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo state to immediately suspend the Forest Farming Policy imposing a ₦250,000 per hectare levy on cocoa farmers working within the state’s forest reserves, as it is harming smallholder farmers across the state. This policy includes ₦100,000 for a five-year permit and ₦150,000 for polygon mapping.
• The farmers, under the umbrella of the Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria (CFAN), protested the policy in an open letter by the National President, Comrade Adeola Adegoke, dated October 30, 2025.
• They appealed to the governor to review it to accommodate the smallholder farmers in the state. In the letter, Adegoke, who also serves as the Global President of the Cocoa Farmers Alliance Association of Africa (COFAAA), describes the policy as 'unsustainable, unjust, and devastating' to the thousands of smallholder cocoa farmers across the state. 
• He alleges that the policy has thrown many farmers into distress, forcing some to abandon their farms due to the financial burden. He emphasised that many farmers, including elderly widows and youths relying on cocoa farming for their livelihoods, are facing the hefty fee, which is prohibitive. 

“This policy, as it stands, threatens the very existence of smallholder cocoa farmers who have sustained cocoa farming for decades. These are men and women who rise before dawn, walk deep into the forests, and work with bare hands to nurture the commodity that has placed Ondo State on the global agricultural map and also provide livelihoods for generations,” he writes.

Call for Policy Review and Supportive Measures

In the letter, the CFAN President noted that while the policy may have been introduced in line with the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) requirements, the regulation aims to support farmers toward traceable and deforestation-free production, not to impose financial hardship.

“Our farmers are already doing the hard work to make their cocoa traceable, by practising agroforestry, deforestation-free, and child-labour-free. They deserve encouragement, not another heavy burden. If this policy continues as it is, it will not only cripple the income of smallholder cocoa farmers but also lead to low productivity, insecurity and resistance toward EUDR implementation itself. Cocoa farmers may see sustainability as oppression rather than collaboration,” the letter reads.

Adegoke further highlight how the policy disproportionately affects smallholder farmers compared to large investors. “This directive is not only unsustainable, it is unjust. It widens the gap between smallholder farmers and large investors.  While small farmers are asked to pay ₦250,000 per hectare for only five years, large investors with extensive hectares enjoy long-term permits of several decades at far cheaper rates," he wrote.

He therefore appealed to the Governor to: suspend the payment pending further consultation; convene an emergency meeting with stakeholders to discuss a fair alternative; reduce the levy to reflect current economic realities; ensure equity between smallholders and large investors; and explore state-supported mapping programs to help farmers meet EUDR standards.

“Please, do not allow the tears of farmers to water the soil of our cocoa heritage. Let history remember you as the leader who strengthened agriculture with fairness and compassion,” Adegoke concluded.