FG Unveils One-Million-Hectare Tree Crops Plan to EU Investors in Brussels
The Federal Government has unveiled its one-million-hectare tree crops expansion programme to European cocoa industry leaders and investors in Brussels.
The presentation was made on Thursday at the Nigeria/West Africa Cocoa Origins – EU Industry Match-Making Forum, held on the sidelines of the Nigeria–Belgium-Luxembourg Business Forum.
According to a joint statement from the Agribusiness and Productivity Enhancement Project Management Office (AgPE PMO) in the Office of the Vice President and the EU–Nigeria Agribusiness Platform (EUNAP), the Forum was organised by EUNAP, by Agribusiness Register Limited under an EU Global Gateway grant, with the support of the European Cocoa Association (ECA).
The Keynote Address was delivered by the Agribusiness and Productivity Enhancement PMO of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Agribusiness in the Office of the Vice President. It was the first presentation of the programme to a European audience, with cocoa expected to take a leading share.
The unveiling comes at a time when European industry is seeking new origins, and ahead of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which applies to large and medium operators from 30 December 2026.
The presentation addressed key questions from European buyers on where new cultivation will take place, how every plot will be traced from establishment, and how expansion will be delivered without forest loss.
Nigeria currently has over 350,000 cocoa-farming families cultivating over 1.4 million hectares. The new programme is designed to expand this base on a deforestation-free, fully traceable footing, while inviting European industry participation through long-term offtake, co-investment in processing, and region-to-region partnership.
To ensure coordinated participation, the AgPE PMO engaged relevant federal MDAs and cocoa-producing states ahead of the Forum, including for the region-to-region track.
Beyond the Forum, both parties agreed terms of reference for a standing collaboration covering policy engagement, mobilisation of grant and development resources, and commercialisation of cocoa and other value chains.
Speaking on the partnership, the SSAP on Agribusiness, Dr Kingsley Uzoma, said: “Nigeria is presenting European industry with a plan, not a promise. The expansion of our tree crops will be planned, mapped and traced from the first seedling, so that every new hectare strengthens Nigeria’s standing as a responsible origin.”
On his part, Roland Oroh, Founder/Director of Agribusiness Register Limited and Project Director, EUNAP, said: “European industry has told us plainly what it needs from origin: scale, consistency and proof. The presence of the SSAP in the plenary answers the question every European buyer asks first — whether Nigeria’s commitment reaches the highest level of government.”
The Forum convened European grinders, chocolate manufacturers and traders alongside vetted exporters, processors and cooperative federations from Nigeria, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. Its programme featured pre-matched B2B meetings, finance and region-to-region tracks, and an Investment Wall of four Nigerian flagship projects. The event was held in hybrid format via EUNAP’s virtual deal room.
This was contained in a statement issued by Ezeaja Ikemefuna, Head of Information and Public Relations at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
