The Cross River State Government has partnered with multinational agribusiness firm JR Farms to launch an expansive agricultural initiative aimed at cultivating 30 million coffee seedlings across the state. 

Flagged off in Calabar, the large-scale project represents the state government’s effort to establish Cross River as Nigeria’s premier coffee capital, diversify the regional export base, and inject sustainable liquidity into rural household economies.

The launch ceremony brought together key state ministries, agricultural unions, and representatives of the French Government, who witnessed the initial deployment of the multi-year project. 

Speaking at the event, Governor Bassey Otu explained that the distribution of high-yielding, climate-appropriate Arabica and Robusta seedlings will span all 18 local government areas based on their specific ecological suitability. 

Arabica varieties will target the highland topographies of Obudu, Bekwarra, and Boki, while Robusta will populate the lowland zones. 

Governor Otu noted that the initiative underpins his administration’s “People First” agenda, stating: “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.”

The operational implementation is driven directly by the specialised value-chain expertise of JR Farms. 

The Founder and Chief Executive Officer of JR Farms, Olawale Rotimi-Opeyemi, disclosed that his firm is bringing nine years of East African coffee exportation experience back to Nigeria to build a traceable, globally competitive market framework. 

The agribusiness has already onboarded 11,000 local farmers for the first phase, deploying a “Train-the-Trainer” approach covering agronomy, farm hygiene, and basic production economics. 

To protect crop survival rates after planting, a three-way communication link has been established between the farmers, JR Farms, and the State Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation Development.

The long-term roadmap features deep infrastructural investments to guarantee international fair-trade quality standards. 

In collaboration with the State Ministry, headed by Commissioner Hon. Johnson Ebokpo, JR Farms will construct decentralised coffee washing stations across rural settlements to manage harvesting, automated sorting, washing, fermenting, and drying processes. 

Furthermore, JR Farms has committed to completely off-taking the local harvests to satisfy its expanding global client base. Backed by the French Embassy’s Senior Trade Specialist, Valor Iduh, the partnership is also finalising plans to secure an industrial coffee roasting machine for Nigeria, ensuring the state retains peak economic value through localised, high-end processing.

Source: Cross River Gov