Cross River State has unveiled a seven-year development roadmap to rebuild its coffee industry and position itself as a major production hub, as stakeholders seek to reverse Nigeria's declining fortunes in the global market.
Governor Bassey Otu disclosed this through the Commissioner for Agriculture and Irrigation Development, Johnson Ebokpo, at the Coffee Festival International Nigeria in Calabar.
The roadmap, covering 2025 to 2032, is expected to guide investment in coffee production, research, quality planting materials, processing facilities and market access.
Otu said the state's agroecological conditions, rainfall and extensive arable land offered opportunities for large-scale coffee cultivation, particularly Robusta.
He noted that about 90 per cent of Cross River's estimated 23,000 square kilometres of arable land was lowland, making it suitable for the coffee variety.
The governor said the development programme would also create employment opportunities, particularly for young people, while contributing to Nigeria's economic diversification and non-oil exports.
However, the National President of the National Coffee and Tea Association of Nigeria, Dr Hassan Kakara, said the country's coffee industry must address weak institutional structures and poor representation to achieve sustainable growth.
Speaking at the three-day festival, Kakara identified ineffective leadership, poorly organised farmer cooperatives and inadequate support as major obstacles to the sector's development.
He said Nigeria needed a strong national association to coordinate stakeholders, protect farmers' interests and attract investment.
Drawing comparisons with Kenya, Kakara said the country's organised cooperative system demonstrated how effective farmer representation could strengthen coffee production and marketing.
The Chief Executive Officer of Lingzhi Global Nigeria Limited, Blessing Tangtur, also called for stronger connections between farmers, processors, investors, buyers and exporters.
She said many Nigerian farmers remained disconnected from commercial opportunities because they lacked information about processing, marketing and export activities.
Tangtur said the festival was designed to bridge the gap by creating business relationships and improving farmers' access to markets.
She claimed that awareness generated by the maiden festival in Plateau State in 2025, alongside improved data collection, had increased recorded coffee consumption in Nigeria from fewer than two million to about 12 million, although she did not specify the measurement.
The three-day event, organised by Lingzhi Global in collaboration with NACOFTAN, attracted participants from South Africa, Rwanda, Ghana, Namibia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Brazil.
Held under the theme, 'Sustainability: Building the Future of Coffee in Nigeria', the festival is focusing on investment, production, value-chain development and access to international markets.
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