Boki: Once famous for banana, it’s now into cocoa

Long ago Boki was famous for its Banana plantations, its banana farmers and their rich yearly harvest. Its fertile soils conduced for the cultivation of the plant, which grew quickly and there was its banana loving population too, and the many who found jobs each year whenever the harvest drew near. Many of its sons […]

Long ago Boki was famous for its Banana plantations, its banana farmers and their rich yearly harvest. Its fertile soils conduced for the cultivation of the plant, which grew quickly and there was its banana loving population too, and the many who found jobs each year whenever the harvest drew near. Many of its sons became wealthy from the vast trade, some of which were conveyed to the far north.But now, all this belongs to long   ago, and a lot has changed. Cocoa has since risen and replaced Banana as an important cash crop in the town and surrounding areas.
There are some challenges in its cultivation, but it can be safely said that cocoa is rising in Boki.Today, unlike the past when the crop was very visible, the banana crop is to be found planted in between cocoa in the many farms in the area. One crop replaces another in a silent non violent contest for power in the farms of Boki. If a history of crops there were to be written, it will be an important narrative detailing   the cultivation of cocoa in an unlikely place. This is because people normally associate the cultivation of cocoa with the South west rather than the South-South. Indeed cocoa injected much life into the economy of the western region during the first republic. Boki then becomes a pleasant shock to the visitor who is visiting the town for the first time. Houses have been built from the proceeds of Cocoa, and children have been given an education, and medical bills have also been paid. Daily Trust was shown a house built from proceeds of the cocoa trade in Boki, and  the happy family dwelling therein. There are at least 100 cocoa farmers in the town today. Over a period of time a new class, which often had occasion to flaunt its wealth and status, then began to express itself in the environment.
Akwo Ikobi is one of the many cocoa merchants in Boki local government, and he is an example  of the new class that has arisen in the area. He speaks on some of the difficulties  facing cocoa merchants today “One of the challenges confronting us is that of poor prices for the crop. There is also a lack of cooperative society’s here,as well as a  poverty of information on  the cocoa trade.This means that we are not fully informed. Cocoa itself is supposed to be sold at 550,000 Naira per ton,but it is sold at 420,000 Naira per ton. But if we had a cooperative, we would have been able to sell directly to the exporters. This is a huge problem, and because of a lack of cooperative society’s we are losing greatly at the point of purchase.”

He laments the absence of chemicals “The  government’s inability to provide chemicals on time, also results in poor production. Here, we are dealing with pods and not stems. We need the chemicals to prevent the growth of fungi and other diseases and numerous problems affecting the cocoa crop, such as termites. We are supposed to have the chemicals on time to arrest the negative impact on the cocoa crop and have a normal production too. The government is supposed to provide the chemicals to us as well as some NGOs. Then there is the absence of funds to carry out various projects relating to the crop.” Hear him “When we have funds we can employ labour on time, and this will assist us to buy knives, tarpaulins, and basins to convey the crop to the house.”

Despite the absence of funds which is a very limiting factor in the cocoa trade, Mr. Ikobi anticipates a good harvest this year   “This is our hope because we have been embarking on programmes on how to maintain  our farms. It has given us an opportunity to add value to the farms in town. This is achieved, for instance, by clearing and pruning at the appropriate time using insecticides. So, we anticicpate a good harvest this year.” He adds that they have turned to the use of chemicals which helps greatly to reduce the ravaging  insects.
Then he opens up on the various groups involved in the cocoa trade in Boki, and this is a tree crop which needs many hands even at the basic level of its cultivation  “We have the petty buyers, also known as the factors, as  well as the middle men who buy from  the farmers and sell to the LBAs. The LBAs in turn take the cocoa to the exporters, and this last group are the final part on the chain.”

The crop is taken to Senegal, USA  as well as China which buys a huge percentage of it, he tells me. But there is a problem with the fact that there are just a few buyers of  cocoa in the locality “We have just  a few buyers in terms of people doing the business here. This affects the trade, because these few buyers will now determine the price, the quantity and they won’t even look at getting quality cocoa.Instead, they will buy it randomly.But if we had many buyers, we would have quality in the trade.” He says that from Boki, the cocoa harvest is conveyed to Lagos. Here too, there are challenges during the journey “If you have not cleared with the ministry of agriculture, that is its produce inspectorate office, you will find it difficult conveying your cocoa to Lagos.The various local governments have a haulage fee which they charge, and this varies from state to state.”
He ends on an optimistic note “cocoa business is doing very well. Through the monies derived, it has been helping us to take care of the children in school, as well as pay the hospital bills when these arise.”
Otu Damien Aria is a Village Head, as well as a cocoa farmer in the community. His cocoa farm, the size of twenty football fields which Daily Trust visited, is situated just a few kilometres outside Boki. In the farm one sees the young cocoa crop, as well as the more mature ones which are already producing pods. There are little valleys within, and some elevated sections too, all of which have been cultivated. The farmer’s grandsons conducted me round the endless lines of cocoa trees, also pointing out pods which have been eaten by rabbits, and some which are growing healthily. They indicate that attacks by rodents is a common feature in the farm. Otu Aria comments on the history of cocoa cultivation in the area “Cocoa has been cultivated here for the past twenty years. Within the same period we improved upon the crop. There had been some effort in that direction in the past, but the way of production then was not  as sophisticated as it is now. Most farmers have now had an orientation which focuses on cocoa production, and this has been found to be very useful.” He adds that there are many cocoa farmers in Boki who produce more than 2 tonnes of the crop in one harvest, and this happened even in recent harvests.
He speaks on the 2014 harvest “Last year’s harvest was good. But that of the previous year wasn’t.” Providing an explanation for this, he says  “The rains came at a time when they are not expected. This is a consequence of climate change.As a result this causes the cocoa black pod disease. Some of these problems often result in poor yield. The sun will come out when we are expecting rain, and so the flowers will dry up, and this  directly leads to a poor harvest. Last year the rains were regular,and helped the crops to produce more. The harvest was  therefore good.”

Now, he looks to the future with optimism “If the weather is good, and the sun is not as harsh as it used to be when there was a poor harvest, there will be a good harvest. But already, there was rain this year,and it looks as if there will be rain soon. Thus, the weather is not harsh such that it will dry out the flowers. Once the weather is good, we expect a good harvest.” He explains that the cocoa farmers in the area have had lots of training on the cultivation of the crop in recent times “The farmers have been trained on proper ways of taking care of cocoa, which includes proper sanitation, pruning and other salient aspects of the business.” According to him “Boki local government has the highest cocoa production in the state. This is followed by Atung local government and Ikom local government. Some of the other local governments have cocoa, but not in the same quantity as these three.”

On what a typical day is like on the cocoa farms, he reveals “The work needs  many hands for the clearing of farms, the spraying of chemicals, harvesters, as well as the moments of  breaking and drying. Then after drying, the cocoa crop  is bagged.”  He sheds light on some of the challenges facing the cocoa sector “There is the issue of a lack of finance. Without money we cannot purchase chemicals which are very essential to the   cultivation of the crop. There are also fewer buyers, so it is difficult for them to finance a farmer. One does everything on his own, until when the cocoa crop is ready. In places where there are cooperatives, it helps, but here everyone does it on his own. Therefore, one cannot get a good price, and there is no steady market.” He is of the opinion that today more people are  streaming into and embracing  the cocoa trade “In Boki we have banana  as well as cocoa farms. We look at banana as lucrative, because it does not involve labour. But now that we have seen  the importance of cocoa, banana farms have given way to cocoa. Now, we are getting more money from cocoa. About twenty years ago, the focus on banana began to drop when cocoa emerged as the new cash crop in these parts.”
This interest in cocoa occuring deep in the delta rather than in the  South west, seems to be paying off handsomely for the cocoa farmers of Boki, who took a bold step one morning when they created just a little more space to plant the cocoa crop.