Abstract

Cocoa production has long been perceived as a ‘male preserve’. However, although women are important actors in the cocoa production value chain, they are effectively not recognized as cocoa farmers but rather as care givers and marginal players in the cocoa value chain.

Men have reportedly continued to dominate farm decision making, even in areas where women are the largest providers of farm labour. This study examines the activities and challenges of women in the cocoa production value chain in Otu and Ayaoke communities of Eyumojock sub- division.

Using snow ball sampling, 74 women farmers were surveyed and two traditional authorities were interviewed to give a historical rendition of cocoa production in these communities. All data collected was subjected to descriptive statistics.

Findings revealed that respondents are involved in major cocoa production activities (planting, weeding, harvesting, fermentation and drying) in addition to their domestic roles, but are excluded from sales and have little or no support from government, have limited access to training, extension services and limited decision making power.

The study therefore recommends that there is need for a shift towards acknowledging women as cocoa farmers in their own right. Agric extension workers should recognize women as cocoa farmers in their own right. Furthermore, information about training should be communicated to women on time so that they can plan their time to accommodate household work and by delegating household chores to other household members to attend/participate in such trainings.

The government on the other hand  should support women cocoa farmers by supplying farm inputs to subsidize their cost of production since it has a positive relationship with an increase in farmers output. Women are also encouraged to belong to cocoa cooperatives so as to better articulate their challenges.

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction

The cocoa industry is a very lucrative world and millions of people depend on cocoa production for livelihood (Klarer, 2014). According to ICCO (2012) approximately six million people depend on cocoa farming for their livelihoods around the world.

Although Cocoa farming has long been deemed a ‘male crop’, Women cocoa farmers are central to the sustainability of the cocoa supply chain and cocoa-growing communities. There is a growing participation of women in this sector and throughout Latin America countries, Peru and Nicaragua it has been referred to as the feminization of agriculture (Deere 2005).

This has been as a result of significant out-migration of men and youth from rural to urban areas in Latin America. This has greatly impacted women’s roles in cocoa production value chain (Lyon et al. 2010).

In the same light, cocoa farms in West Africa are increasingly run by women as a result of migration, HIV/AIDS and social conflicts. According to the Sustainable Tree Crops Programme (STCP), an estimated 15-25% of cocoa farms in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire are owned by women (UTZ, 2009). While women play lead role in tending the young cocoa trees and in performing post-harvest activities, men in general tend to take over control of production when cash crops enter higher-value export market (WCF, 2014).

The cocoa sector in Cameroon plays a crucial role in economic growth and poverty reduction. It is one of Cameroons most important agricultural commodities and exported cash crops (Kumase et al, 2008). About 5 million persons in Cameroon depend on cocoa production for livelihood (FAO, 2014:24).

In the south west Region, women play an active role in this sector both as owners and workers in family farms. While women are known for doing the work, men always take credit for it (Kumase et al 2008). Although too often unrecognized and undervalued, women’s labor makes significant contributions to the amount of cocoa produced, which is under increasing demand. Supporting women in their existing roles in the cocoa production value chain as cocoa producers in their own rights is a call for concern.

1.1 Background to the Study

The role of cocoa as a major driver of economic growth has gained overall acceptance in all cocoa growing economies. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), (2004), cocoa is a highly competitive and lucrative economic cash crop ranked highest in terms of income generation amongst other agricultural activities in the global markets. The nutritional values of cocoa to man (health supportive) with regards to its constituent elements like butter, protein, cellulose, water, and sugar have made it a more dependable cash crop which is encouraged worldwide.

 

Cocoa (Theobroma cacao) production is a relatively small sector in agriculture with a global production that averages 4.5 million tonnes a year. Approximately six million people depend on cocoa farming for their livelihoods around the world (ICCO, 2012: 10).

The cocoa industry is paramount for the economies of many West-African nations, where about 80% of the world cocoa is produced and millions of smallholder farmers produce the crop as a means to sustain their livelihoods (Fair-trade Foundation, 2011: 42-48).

The importance of cocoa to Ghana has been identified by several previous researchers. In Ghana, according to Asamoah, (2012) cocoa has been the backbone of the economy for a century and plays a major role in employment, foreign exchange earnings, government revenue, education, infrastructural development amongst others.

Cocoa is a perennial tree crop with a life-cycle of twenty-five to thirty years and is characterized by a production technology requiring the use of working capital mainly to hire labor for clearing and weeding the land if necessary and to purchase chemicals for controlling the spread of pests and diseases. Cocoa is grown throughout the humid tropics covering about 6.5 million hectares (Acquaah, 1999: 12).

Cocoa and other export crops have traditionally been considered ‘men’ crops while subsistence crops are women crops (Croppensted et al, 2013). A standard explanation for the division of crops by gender is that women are responsible for feeding the family and thus grow subsistence crops. On the other hand, men are responsible for providing cash income and to this end they grow cash and export crops (Doss, 2013).

In addition, because of the high returns cocoa generates and the intensity of the labor use requirements, male farmers have always featured as the dominant gender in the cocoa farming population (Olawuyi, et al 2011).

Although cocoa has been cultivated in Central America for centuries, ”the introduction of cocoa into Africa dates back from the 16th or 17th century, but it was only towards the end of the 19th century that the cocoa industry began to be of importance” (Acquaah 1999:12).

Since then, African countries like Ghana, Ivory Coast and Cameroon have dominated the production of these beans in Africa contributing immensely to their overall gross national product (GNP) and gross domestic product (GDP) (Klarer A. J, 2014).

Globally, an estimated average of 3 million metric tons of cocoa are produced every year. Of these, 3 million metric tons, 90% of the world’s production comes from eight countries which are Ivory Coast (38%), Ghana (21%), Indonesia (13%) Nigeria and Cameroon (5%) respectively, Brazil (4%) Ecuador (3%), Dominican Republic (1.4%) and Malaysia (0.9%) (Ibid: 48). West Africa, with a total cultivated area of 420,000 hectares, account for over 70% of world production.

The International Cocoa Initiative (ICI), assert that over 14 million workers produce cocoa, of which 10.5 million are in Africa and 95% of the world’s cocoa is grown by small scale farmers. Africa holds a dominant position with almost 70% of production volumes. Roughly, more than 20 million people depend directly on cocoa for their livelihood in 2011 (UNCTAD, 2004: 48).

Although cocoa is often said to be a ‘male crop’ because the work is deemed physically arduous, studies have found that women also play an important but often unrecognized role in production on small-scale family-based farms.

Research has revealed that women are particularly involved in early plant care and fermentation and drying which are critical to enhancing yields and producing the quality of cocoa required by the chocolate industry (Daniels et al 2012). Damisa et al, (2007) stated that, Women account for more than half of the cocoa work force by participating in different activities, either directly or indirectly.

According to Sapong (2006), labor employed on cocoa farms is clearly gender differentiated. While male labor is essential for clearing and tree felling, female labor is used for weeding and harvesting. The gender division of labor varies from one society and culture to another, and within each culture external circumstances influence the level of activity.

As farmers and through their labor on family farms, other farms, and agricultural enterprises, women make essential contributions to agriculture in developing countries. Women make up approximately 43 percent of the agricultural labor force of developing countries, ranging from approximately 20 percent in Latin America to almost 50 percent in Eastern and South eastern Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa (FAO, 2011: 2).

Asymmetric divisions of labor in the household however, also mean that women are required to allocate a substantial amount of time for domestic chores. Extensive responsibilities in the household, combined with demands for working on husband’s land or farming activities, limit the time women spend on their own productive economic assets, or it means they work many more hours a day than men (FLA, 2014).

According to the world cocoa foundation, women perform 66% of the world’s work and produce 50% of its cash crop, but only manage 10% of its income.  Yet women’s substantial contribution continues to be under-valued in conventional agricultural and economic analyses and policies, while men’s contribution remains the central, often sole focus of attention (Fabiyiet al., 2007:  76-78).

Women in cocoa crop production are still invisible within this sector, as cocoa crop production is still associated to be a man’s sphere. Women’s contribution is often undervalued and disregarded and as such, they are often provided with insufficient training or access to inputs and resources to maximize their potential to enhance production.

Mello’s study (2014) of the organic cocoa value chain in Pará state, Brazil, found that women producers tend to be regarded as men’s assistants, instead of as production owners. Furthermore, interventions do not recognize the variety of products that women develop from cocoa and their local and regional market potential.

Women are face with a daily struggle of inequality and injustice, they have a vulnerable position in the cocoa sector such as; hard labour, limited economic power, and the lack of access to (good quality) inputs and improved infrastructure. In West Africa, literature (Udry, 1995) holds that women assisting their husbands are actively involved in almost all stages of the cocoa production process, but are in general not involved in farm management.

They are mainly involved in post harvest activities, such as collecting and transporting the harvested pods from the fields, sorting of the beans, drying and fermentation. Yet in general, men take over control of production and income when the cocoa crop enters higher-value export market (ICCO, 2007).

Cocoa was introduced in the Mount Fako region of Cameroon in 1886-1887 by the German colonial occupiers who managed its production and exportation as raw materials for their home industries. After the overthrow of the Germans by the French and British in 1922, management shifted to the French in the Littoral, Centre and South regions and to the British in the South West Region. Later in 1956 the National Producing Marketing Board was set up in the South West region and the Caisse de Stabilization in the Centre-South region.

While the former was charged with providing farmers with subsidized farm inputs and marketing their products, the latter was a policy instrument served to stabilize prices thereby raising revenue for government spending.

During this period many private farms began to emerge in other regions of the country characterized by a patriarchal management approach while the management of state-owned farms gradually shifted from an autocratic to a landowner-farmer contract system, accompanied by privatization (Alary, 2000).

After independence in the 60s, the young governments of East and West Cameroon took over the management of these structures and merged them together to form the ONCPB (Office National de Commercialization des Produits de Base). This parastatal, multi-commodity institution was charged with setting farm gate prices and export prices, providing farmers with farm inputs.

The surplus generated from the excess of world price over farm gate price continued to serve for government expenditures such as government projects and salaries to civil servants. But this structure did not last for long due to mismanagement and embezzlement, exacerbated by the fuel and the dollar crisis in 1973 (Ibid).

More than 5 million persons in Cameroon, live exclusively on cocoa farming. In 2011, with about 180.000tons, Cameroon is currently the fifth largest producer of cocoa in the world. As of 2011, the national income from cacao exports was the highest of all agricultural products (FAO, 2014: 23-24).

 

As in many Sub Saharan countries, the agricultural sector in Cameroon plays a crucial role in economic growth and poverty reduction. Cocoa is one of Cameroon’s most important agricultural commodities and exported cash crops.  Cameroonian cocoa belt represents about 37% of total cultivated soil of the country.

Cocoa is grown mainly in two areas; The Coastal zone and Center South East region. The coastal zone extends from the area around mount Cameroon to kribi. Attitude is generally below 400mm except in area around mount Cameroon.

The mean annual rainfall pattern is between 2000mm to 5000mm. The mean temperature varies from 22°C to 29°C. The second most important area covers the Center, South and Eastern Regions. Altitude ranges between 500m and 850m. while  mean temperature is around 250°C and mean annual rainfall between 1500mm and 2000mm (Jagoret, 2011).

According to the Cameroon Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MINADER, 2012), the South West Region produces over 150 000 tonnes of cocoa annually. The total production in 2012 as stated by the FAO for cocoa bean production was 256000 tons (FAO, 2014), therefore South West produced over 58% of the cacao produced in Cameroon.

This high production is largely due to its rich soils and humid climate. Out of the total cultivated area in the South West Region, about 40% comes from Meme Division, 11% from Fako Division, 14% from Kupe Muanenguba and 25% from Manyu Division (Estimates from South West Regional Delegation of Agriculture and Rural Development, 2007). In all of this women play an essential role in the cocoa production value chain yet, they are not recognized as farmers but rather considered as marginal players in cocoa value chain (Oxfam 2016).

1.2 Statement Of Problem

Cocoa farming has long been deemed a ‘male crop’. However, Oxfam (2016) have found that women also play an important but often unrecognized role in cocoa production value chain both as farm-owners as well as being an important part of the labour force.

Deere (2005), states that in Latin America countries like Peru and Nicaragua women are increasingly involved in harvesting, transportation and drying of cocoa seedlings. Meanwhile in West African Countries like Ghana and Ivory Coast, research by Oxfam, (2013) states that women are responsible for sanitation (cleaning and preserving), harvesting, cutting the cocoa pods and drying the cocoa beans.

Barrientos, (2013), further states that women are particularly involved in early plant care, fermentation and drying. These are critical to enhancing yields and producing the quality of cocoa required by the chocolate industry. Yet, women’s contribution is often undervalued; they are viewed as marginal players and are not involved in the control of income (WCF, 2014).

Despite the established fact that women are fully involved in cocoa production and contributing significantly to the value chain, they are not fully recognized as cocoa farmers. This non recognition poses a lot of challenges to women cocoa farmers.

Their rights and priorities are often insufficiently addressed in national agricultural policies and they are provided with insufficient training or access to inputs and resources to maximize their potential to enhance production.

Agricultural extension services have traditionally been focused on men and their farm production needs, while neglecting the female half of the cocoa production force. These conditions have entrenched the women in a vicious cycle of poverty that places them at a less advantageous position of income and resource empowerment. In a bid to establish women therefore as cocoa farmers so that they can be better recognized, supported and integrated into cocoa programs, this study seeks to determine the activities and challenges of women in cocoa production value chain in Otu and Ayaoke villages of Eyumojock sub-division.

• Research Questions

1. What is the profile of women involved in the cocoa production value chain in Otu and Ayaoke communities of Eyumojock Sub-Division?
2. What are the activities performed by women in the cocoa production value chain in Otu and Ayaoke communities of Eyumojock Sub-Division?
3. Why are women increasingly involved in the cocoa production value chain in Otu and Ayaoke communities of Eyumojock Sub-Division?
4. What is the socio-economic importance of women involvement in cocoa production value chain in Otu and Ayaoke communities of Eyumojock Sub-Division?
5. What challenges are faced by women in cocoa production value chain in Otu and Ayaoke communities of Eyumojock Sub-Division?