THE SOCIAL RELATIONS OF COCOA PRODUCTION IN SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA

Abstract

Social relations, which are patterned interactions among key actors in context, affect outcomes of actions. In Nigeria, social relations between producers and buyers of cocoa are major issues affecting cocoa production. Previous studies have focused on agro-ecology of cocoa production with little attention to social relations of its production. This study was therefore designed to investigate the historical changes, farmers’ network, cultural practices and constructed meanings underlying cocoa production in Southwestern Nigeria – a strategic hub of cocoa in Nigeria. Social Action Theory, exploratory and descriptive designs were adopted for the study. Ondo, Osun and Oyo States were purposively selected as study locations because of their prominence in cocoa production in Nigeria. Primary and secondary data were utilised. Primary data included 45 In-depth Interviews with 15 farmers from each state, six Focus Group Discussions (two per state) with resident farmers, 12 Key Informant Interviews (four per state) with cocoa buyers, association executives and staff of government-owned agricultural agencies, and four Life Histories (two in Ondo, one each in Osun and Oyo) were conducted with elderly farmers. Non participant observation was done. Secondary data included official memoranda, reports and minutes of meetings of the colonial Cocoa Consumers’ Consultative Committee obtained from the National Archives, Ibadan. Data were thematically content-analysed. The introduction of cocoa to southwestern Nigeria in 1874 shifted the attention of farmers from food crop to cash crop farming, leading to exploitative interrelationships between farmers and the cocoa buyers who determined the price. Colonialism expanded the frontiers of cocoa production with commercial exportation starting in 1910. While farmers embraced cocoa farming, exploitation persisted through land fragmentation, commoditisation of labour, individualisation of farm inputs and mistreatment of smallholders. The post-colonial epoch retained these trajectories. The survival of farmers was dependent upon and negotiated within the networks of kinship, occupational associations, buyers (merchants, licensed agents and exporters), and government institutions. Cocoa farmers developed a culture of work that combined resilience (ìforítì), communality (àáró), attachment to crop, sharecropping, and marriage of customary calendaring with cultural events like masquerade festival. These practices informed strategic construction of meanings which belied cocoa production. Farmers constructed cocoa as ‘money’ (kòkó d'owó), source of livelihood and economic item for rural farmers’ exploitation. Farmers also drew a parallel between cocoa and àbíkú (a child that is liable to premature death) with the saying that ẹni tí ó bá lè wo kòkó yè ni ó lè wo ọmọ yè (anyone who can successfully raise a cocoa tree can raise a child). Nevertheless, the increasing cost of production, rural poverty, youth apathy and feelings of neglect, and exploitation of cocoa farmers engendered non-regeneration of farms, poor fermentation and discouragement of new entrants that have led to scarcity of labour and shrinking cocoa spaces. Social relations are tied to the existential realities of cocoa farmers in Southwestern Nigeria, and they implicate the transformation of cocoa production in the area. There is need for value addition, inclusive policies, rural development and improved regulation of cocoa market to sustain the cocoa sector.