Farmers to sell directly to foreign markets as Cross River cuts middlemen

… Moves to map 19,000 farms, reverse large-scale deforestation

Cross River State Commissioner for Agriculture and Irrigation Development Johnson Ebokpo, has said farmers will soon establish export contracts and transact directly with international buyers without unnecessary difficulties.

Ebokpo disclosed this in Calabar during a stakeholders’ validation workshop for the state’s updated Land Use and Land Cover Map, organised in collaboration with Pula Advisors, the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation and the State Forestry Commission.

He said the updated map is part of the state’s seven-year agricultural development roadmap for cocoa, coffee and oil palm, initiated in 2024.

According to him, the roadmap includes a traceability system, updated land-use data and enforcement of agricultural grades and standards to improve the competitiveness of the state’s commodities.

He said the mapping will help establish the origins of agricultural products, assure international buyers of their quality and enable farmers to access export markets.

Ebokpo urged stakeholders to carefully examine the maps, identify errors and make corrections before the document is submitted to Governor Bassey Otu for consideration.

He said the initiative aligns with the administration’s People First agenda, focused on building systems that improve livelihoods and create economic opportunities.

Country Director of Pula Advisors, Dr Michael Enahoro, said the exercise followed geospatial mapping, ground-truthing and polygon mapping of over 19,000 farms.

He disclosed that over 200,000 hectares of forest in the state had been degraded or lost, warning that deforestation poses a serious threat to environmental sustainability.

“There are over 200,000 hectares that have either been degraded, or we have lost. So deforestation is a real issue. And you have to strike a fine balance between food and forests,” he said.

He said the initiative will position Cross River to comply with the European Union Deforestation Regulation, which requires commodities exported to Europe to be traceable to their sources.

Forestry Commission Chairman, Dr George Oben’ Etchi, accused community leaders and officials of conniving with logging cartels, inviting illegal loggers, and vowed stricter laws with stiffer penalties.