Coffee production in Nigeria gets boost as Cross River, JR Farms to plant 30m seedlings

The Coffee production industry in Nigeria is set for a transformation as the Cross River State government, in partnership with a leading agribusiness firm, JR Farms, has launched an ambitious project to cultivate 30 million coffee seedlings across the state.

A statement to the media on Monday noted that the initiative, flagged off in Calabar on Thursday, signals a renewed national drive to position Nigeria as a competitive player in the global coffee market. With its focus on job creation, rural development, and climate resilience, the project is expected to become one of the largest coffee cultivation projects in West Africa.

Speaking at the event, Governor Bassey Otu described the initiative as a strategic move to reintroduce and reposition Cross River as the coffee capital of Nigeria and an emerging player in the international coffee market.

“With 30 million robust and climate-appropriate seedlings being distributed across our 18 local government areas, this project offers much more than cultivation. It is about creating jobs, generating wealth, building sustainable livelihoods, promoting agro-industrial development, and restoring our ecological balance.

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“We are particularly proud of the strategic partnership with JR Farms, whose global footprint in the agrifood space and expertise in coffee value chains bring tremendous value to this initiative. Through their involvement, we are assured of technical support, market access, and international best practices in every aspect of implementation,” Otu said.

In his remarks, Olawale Rotimi-Opeyemi, JR Farms CEO and founder stressed the significance of the project, noting that after nearly a decade of working in the coffee value chain across East Africa, engaging over 4,000 farmers, his company was excited to bring that experience home to support Nigeria’s coffee industry transformation.

Olawale, who commended the Cross River state government’s commitment to agricultural development, said the 30 million coffee seedling cultivation project would engender prosperity for the people, ensure rural development, create jobs for youth and women, and place the state on the global map of coffee production.

The JR Farms CEO disclosed that with years of operations in Nigeria, Rwanda, France, and Zambia, his company would deploy its extensive wealth of experience in coffee production and global marketing to ensure the long-term success of the project and help Cross River become a major player in the international coffee market.

He explained that farmers across the state would be trained through a “Train-the-Trainer” model covering agronomic practices, ethical production, and the economics of coffee farming. According to him, 11,000 coffee farmers across the state have been onboarded under the project.

Olawale added that JR Farms would work with the State Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation Development to establish coffee washing stations in different parts of the state for post-harvest processing and also open communication channels for real-time technical support for farmers.

He noted that beyond cultivation, his company is focused on value addition and market access, saying that an implementable framework to link farmers directly to global markets would be developed.

“We’re committed to off-taking coffee produced across the state to meet rising international demand.

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“We will also, through global platforms and media publications, actively push stories of Cross River Coffee to the world to wet the appetite of coffee lovers globally,” he stated.

Olawale appreciated the French Embassy in Nigeria, which was represented at the event by its Senior Trade Specialist, Valor Iduh, for its continued support toward his company and coffee production in Nigeria.

He revealed that the Embassy was working with his firm to secure a coffee roasting machine for Nigeria as part of the broader plan to strengthen local value addition.

Also speaking, the Cross River State Commissioner for Agriculture and Irrigation Development, Johnson Ebokpo, noted that the project followed a rigorous enumeration of farmers and land across the state, which witnessed massive participation of men, youth and women.

He disclosed that 30 million high-quality Robusta and Arabica seedlings would be distributed and cultivated based on ecological suitability across the 18 local government areas of the State.

Ebokpo, further reaffirmed the state government’s commitment to repositioning agriculture was deliberate, unwavering, and strategic, emphasising that the project goes beyond coffee production to wealth creation for farmers, attracting sustainable investment, empowering communities, promoting fair trade, ethical practices, building a green economy, and advancing value chain development.”