Working Lives – The Cocoa Farmers of Ile-Ife
This week we stepped out of Lagos as we sometimes do to speak to cocoa farmers in Ife. We got something of a rude shock. We expected to meet wizened old men who, as they say in the South West, cannot write zero even by stamping the bottom of a bottle on the sand. But most of the cocoa farmers encountered have some education, one even has a Higher Diploma from a polytechnic. They are also managers and entrepreneurs in the agriculture sector rather than being farmers doing backbreaking work- they hire labour for the hard work and trade farm produce as far as Lagos. They also shared policy-relevant ideas, for instance how investment in infrastructure and healthcare in rural areas would not only reduce the price of food but stem rural-urban migration.
Oluwaseyi Ayoola
I ventured into the business because I couldn’t get a well-paying job after finishing my HND. I ran into my uncle at a naming ceremony and he advised me to go into cocoa farming. I took the advice and I have never looked back.”
Tell us about yourself and what you do.
I am a cocoa farmer from Gbelenkan Ile-Ife. My farm is at Area 5, New Ife, Ife South Local Government of Ile-Ife.
How long have you been into cocoa farming and why did you decide to go into it?
This is my 13th year in cocoa farming.
I couldn’t get a well-paying job after finishing my HND from Esa-Oke. I ran into my uncle at a naming ceremony and he advised me to go into cocoa farming. I took the advice and I have never looked back. I spend the week on the farm starting Monday. I come home to town on Friday. I have done this for 13 years. It’s like going to the office every day but in this case for a week. I noticed quickly that no matter what, feeding the family can never be an issue for a farmer.
How has your life changed since you started?
A lot has changed in 13 years. I have my own house, many motorcycles, a wife, and kids. I have no trouble at all providing for them. I doubt If I may have achieved all this from any of the low paying jobs in this town. I was offered one with a salary of N30,000 while I was looking for a job. Today, I don’t know how much anyone can offer me to leave cocoa farming. I cannot leave this.
How long do you work for in a day?
From 8 am to 4 pm. My workers leave by 2 pm.
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Okay. And how many labourers work for you?
I have three.
What do you pay them?
I pay them N150,000 at the end of the year and N12,000 every month for food.
Other expenses?
I spend on wetting cans, spraying machines, cutlasses, files, and agrochemicals.
How much is required to go into cocoa farming?
Well, you need to get a good land, do the nursery of the seedlings, dig the land, and plant both cocoa and plantain. The plantain protects the cocoa during the dry season. The plantain requires about nine months to mature. A starter farmer can start selling the plantain to survive. Some farmers like myself even buy plantain from other farmers and we take them to Lagos to sell. We sell at markets like Oyingbo, Mile 12, Ketu, and Idi Oro. I have joined the association of fruit sellers, so I operate as a farmer and agro dealer for plantain selling. I move around to buy plantain from farm to farm and take them to Lagos. It is always very lucrative.
Why is cocoa special compared to other crops?
Cocoa and plantain are the best things to plant for me. Others are yam and cocoyam to feed the farmer. Cocoa is special because it is a very good investment crop. It is very easy to sell cocoa. It is only in December that selling may be a bit tight because too many farmers want to sell at the same time in order to have money to enjoy Christmas and New year. The price is good now. A buyer with N500,000 will not buy more than 10 bags of Cocoa because a bag is now between N45,000 and N50,000. There are 50 kilos in one bag.
How do you start making money?
Like I mentioned you start selling plantain after like a year. The cocoa may take between two years to four. Cocoa yields improve year after. On an average-sized farm, the yield may be around 20 bags in a year. The money on plantain too improves with time. I bring home like N200,00 to N300,000 from plantain sales with a decent profit of N50,000. I make this once or twice in the month, depending on the season of the year and the time I have to buy and sell.
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How much do you earn as a farmer monthly?
This is hard to tell. Plantain fetches me about N80,000 monthly. Cocoa is difficult to calculate.
What about savings?
I save around N30,000 every month. I save more when I sell more kilogrammes of plantain or cocoa.
What are the major challenges that farmers are facing, especially cocoa farmers like you?
We need government support. Government support goes to people sitting in offices posing as farmers. They should visit farms and hand over any incentives to the real farmers. Most incentives don’t reach real farmers. We have associations, they should deal with us directly. They will hear our stories and how to address them.
How about farm loss, especially theft?
You see, any farming community should be guided by laws. Without that, farmers are not protected. An association of farmers has sanctions which they execute. For example in our farm settlements, once a farmer is caught having stolen a single thing, he will be banned from entering his farm for a year. No one can also enter. Such a person would also be sent away from the community only to return a year later. If you have invested your time and resources in growing your farm, you will think twice before stealing from other peoples’ farms because of these sanctions. Non Farmers are dealt with like serious thieves, so thieves avoid our farming area. Others should reciprocate this strategy.
What’s your advice for youths who may be interested in cocoa farming?
My advice is that they should strive and stop looking for when the government will help or when Nigeria will be better and there will be good jobs. They should be prepared to sacrifice time and endure. If they can plant plantain, they will start harvesting one dozen or two monthly. An average bunch of good plantain sells for between N8,000 to N20,000 per dozen depending on the season. If you harvest 3 dozen bunches monthly, it is something for a start. That’s like your salary. Youths should think about this.
