A few weeks, President of the Cocoa Exporters Association of Nigeria (CEAN), Pius Ayodele, revealed that 30,000 metric tonnes of cocoa were trapped on their way to ports in Lagos for export. He attributed this to cratered and waterlogged roads leading to the cocoa farms. This undoubtedly has continued to threaten Nigeria’s production of cocoa. SAM NWAOKO, OLUWOLE IGE and HAKEEM GBADAMOSI, after visits to some of the cocoa farms in Ekiti, Osun and Ondo states, report the deplorable state of the roads and the frustration of the cocoa farmers.

In a most disturbing report, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry stated that Nigeria shared a joint fifth with Cameroon among the globe’s largest Cocoa producers. Nigeria was estimated by the International Cocoa Organisation as having 240,000 metric tons in its 2017-18 outputs. Unfortunately, the full potential of the industry has slowed down with the deplorable condition of access roads as the major culprit.

It will be recalled that before the discovery of crude oil in Nigeria, agriculture was the economic mainstay of Nigeria. Ondo, Osun, Ekiti, alongside many other states, played their parts in building the agricultural sector. The production of cocoa contributed immensely in this regard. However satisfactory the results had been, there have a collage of factors that have contributed to the decline of cocoa production in the South west.

The noticeable decline in the dwindling fortune of oil in the country envisaged by the Ondo State government led to the rebirth of cocoa in the state tagged “Cocoa Revolution Project” (CRP).

The present administration in the state did not also relent in its effort to reposition cocoa by establishing another cocoa plantation in Jugbere, in Owo Local Government Area of the state, to complement the existing ones in the state.

The state governor, Rotimi Akeredolu said the establishment of the plantation became imperative to reposition the state as one of the best cocoa growers in the country. Akeredolu noticed the deplorable state of the road leading to the new cocoa farm settlement and ordered the immediate grading and construction of the road to make it passable for farmers.

Despite the effort of the state government towards developing cocoa, the product is still being locked up in a number of farms across communities following the deplorable state of the roads leading to the farms.

In many of the communities visited by Nigerian Tribune, cocoa farmers lamented that they were being compelled to move their produce from the farms on their heads, trekking many miles to market the product.

In communities like Idanre, Kolawole, Owena, Ondo, Oda, Olajide camp, Ago Dada, Molege and Mariwo community, many of the farmers lamented that they sometimes throw away large quantities of cocoa beans which have gone bad while waiting for commercial drivers plying the roads. The farmers explained that many of the farmers avoid coming to the areas because of the state of the roads.

One of the farmers, John Obasi said many of the drivers charge farmers exorbitant fares in conveying their cocoa to town or marketing centres. According to him, “Many of the drivers refuse to ply the roads because of the deplorable condition in which they are. Some roads linking cocoa growing areas are in a deplorable state. Many of the vehicles stay on the road for weeks especially during the rainy season.”

He said farmers have resorted to employing youths from the villages to carry the cocoa pods from their farms to the main road. He said the youth walk as long as 15 miles to help farmers carry cocoa pods to the main road before loading it to waiting vehicles, saying,  “not even a motorcycle can go through this road.”

Another cocoa farmer in Idanre, Martin’s Idowu, alleged that successive governments in Ondo State neglected the areas in terms of road construction to the towns and villages despite the huge revenue generated from cocoa cultivation.

“There is no government presence here; it is always difficult to move to farms with vehicles and buyers of the produce. We have no good roads to transport our produce from the farms in the rural areas to the towns. This is seriously affecting our production. We appeal to the state government to rehabilitate the roads for us. We are tired of spending a lot of money to transport our farm produce. We also want the government to assist our farmers in the provision of agrochemicals and loans,” Idowu said.

“Our young ones getting discouraged in cocoa farming”

He said the government has been in the forefront of campaigning for youths to embrace agriculture but said with no basic infrastructure on the farms, the youths would be discouraged in taking up agriculture.

According to him, “Many people have been showing interest in agriculture especially cocoa production and this has increased the volume of production of cocoa. If we compare the quality of seedlings produced in those days with what we have now, I think we have better seedlings but we spend days in getting out the produce to the town and market. This is one of the reasons we need the government to take up our plight. We now have graduates who are involved in cocoa business; this will go a long way to increase our output.  If the government can address our challenges, the output would be higher than before.”

In Oda farm, farmers at the community also described transportation as a serious challenge for them, especially during the rainy season. One of the farmers, Aminu Gombe, who had been living in the community as a cocoa farmer for nearly 40 years, noted that the road that was constructed by the administration of the old Western State of the late Obafemi Awolowo during the establishment of the farm settlement in the area has been in a sorry state for a very long time.

According to him, “Government has been paying lip service to helping us. They have never kept to their promise. Commercial drivers collect a lot of money from us because of the bad roads. It is always difficult for us to transport bags of cocoa beans to the market. Nobody wants to go where there are no good roads. Sometimes, we are left with no other choice than to transport the produce on commercial motorcycles for over 10 miles while we sleep on farms because commercial drivers no longer ply these roads.”

Cocoa farmers at Kolawole Village also called on government to give a befitting construction to roads linking the various cocoa growing communities in the district.

Many of them expressed fears that the dilapidated state of the roads coupled with the rainy season could adversely affect the conveyance of cocoa beans from farms and producing communities to the various marketing centres.

One of the farmers disclosed that that many cocoa farmers get stranded anytime there was downpour since roads linking their farms become completely impassable. Many tonnes of cocoa beans and foodstuff are usually left stocked in farms and producing communities for days since drivers refuse to ply the roads let alone to access their service.

Timilehin Iwalewa, another cocoa farmer, said “I called drivers from town to help transport my cocoa to the market but they told me they could not come because of the bad state of the road would damage their vehicles.”

He disclosed that some government officials and World Bank team visited the community a few years ago and promised to construct functional roads never fulfilled their promise.

We are determined to build good roads, provide facilities for cocoa farmers—Ondo govt

Speaking on the development, the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Akeredolu on Agriculture, Akin Olotu said that the state government noticed the challenges confronting farmers in getting their cocoa beans to town but disclosed the state government has concluded all arrangement to work on about 542 kilometres of the rural roads.

According to him, “We are not saying all these roads will be tarred but we will work on these roads to be motorable. We will grade, sand fill and construct culverts where necessary. The state government is also looking at the entire value chain of cocoa which includes planting, seedlings, transportation in order to make cocoa product attractive and attract global attention. Our new cocoa project will revolve round our youths and we have started this with the Jugbere coca project where every youth will be given five hectares of land.”

Speaking on the effort of government to co-opt private farmers, Olotu said “the arrangement was designed to accommodate private cocoa farmers. We target cluster areas where we have traditional farm settlements where farmers naturally reside on their farms. We are determined to build good roads and provide infrastructural facilities to make life meaningful and they can transport their goods to the market with ease.”

In Ijesa, Oke Ila, Ife,  Eti-Oni it’s same headache for farmers

The lot of cocoa farmers in Osun is not different from their Ondo counterparts. In Osun State, precisely in Ijesa, Oke Ila and Ife axis, regarded as cocoa belt producing communities, many of the roads leading to the cocoa farms are begging for attention, amid other perennial problems confronting large scale farmers, cultivating the revenue spinning crop.

Though the outgoing Governor Rauf Aregbesola construction of 10 kilometre road in each of the 30 local government areas drew accolades from some quarters, findings by the Nigerian Tribune indicate that more attention should be focused to assist the cocoa farmers in the hinterland especially those who have invested in cocoa production.

When Nigerian Tribune visited Iregun Ijesa, in Obokun Local Government Area of Osun, some of the farmers, who spoke to our correspondent, called on the state and local governments to intervene in enhancing the movement of harvested cocoa pods from their communities to major towns where produce markets are located.

One of the cocoa farmers, Comfort Oni bemoaned their challenges while speaking with the Nigerian Tribune. “We are really suffering from bad roads. The government should be please help construct the road from Iregun village to Ilesa where we sell our products. These days, I don’t take my dried cocoa seeds to Ilesa because of my age. The produce dealers come to our community from Ilesa. The government should give us loan facilities to cultivate more cocoa seedlings. We also need agricultural inputs such as fertiliser, insecticide and other chemicals that can protect cocoa seedlings and trees on our farms,” she said.

When asked how she dried her cocoa seeds during raining seasons, she simply said “there is no shortcoming to it. We have to spread them on the floor here. But as you can see, they are spread on the sacks here. When it rains, we quickly pack them inside.”

In Eti-Oni, the cocoa farmers equally attributed their major frustration to the state of the roads which lead to their community. When our correspondent visited Arubidi area in the ancient city of Ile-Ife, a few metres away from the historic Oranmiyan staff, one of the farmers, who is also a cocoa merchant, Samuel Adedoyin lamented the high cost of moving bags of cocoa from his farms located around the outskirt of the town.

According to him, “From our farming village of Akeredolu to store in Arubidi or my farm in Amondo, the roads are very bad. To carry one bag of cocoa, I have to spend N1,500 bag. But from Akeredolu, it is not as expensive as Amondo. The commercial motorcyclist would collect N300. The road from Amondo to Coker is very bad. From Coker, the motorcyclist would carry a bag for N1,200 to town, at least, he would take N1, 200. We also have issues with labourers. To plant cocoa is not easy because it takes about five years before you can harvest. We have to pay labourers.  We also spend on chemicals because before now, we used to get fertiliser very easily. But this is one of our challenges now.”

All attempts to speak with the Osun State government were futile as at the time of filing this report.

In Ekiti, it’s cocoa farming with tears 

Many cocoa farmers in Ekiti State have resorted to the relief they derive from the sweet memories of the days of yore. They relish the fond memories of their past in their cherished cocoa-farming business and had wished for a return of the days of the Western Region and Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN). They said it was “wonderful to be a farmer, especially cocoa farmer in the days of Chief Obafemi Awolowo and the days of UPN in this country.”

A trio of cocoa farmers who spoke with the Nigerian Tribune in Ise-Ekiti, headquarters of Ise/Orun Local Government Area of Ekiti State relayed their experiences of what cocoa farming was when they were younger and what they experience now.

Akin Owonifari, Adeolu Love and Ojo Arowosafe relished the memory of their past experiences in the farm and in the art and trade of cocoa farming. Owonifari recalled that “in the days of AG and UPN, Ise-Ekiti was third in cocoa production, coming after only Ondo and Idanre communities now in Ondo State.”

Owonifari said being a cocoa farmer in those days was a lofty attainment, “because yearly, the Marketing Board would announce the price of cocoa for that season and you were sure to reap the benefits of your efforts. You would receive input chemicals and farm tools from the government to aid your operations, and you were encouraged to work hard because there were sure rewards.”

Owonifari noted that “then, the government would grade the roads, and this they did regularly every season. So, this made for easy transportation of produce for the farmers, the buyers and the various government agricultural officials who would visit the farms for their monitoring and related extension activities.”

To him, “nearly all these have become distant memories,” just as he lamented that it was now more of lip service by various, successive governments.

Contributing, Arowosafe Ojo lamented that “there’s a lot of difference when you compare cocoa farming of nowadays to what we grew up to know.” He cited the instance of the chemicals they involve in their trade, pointing out that “in the days of UPN and Chief Awolowo, when you spray your farm you’re sure the chemicals would keep the farm clean for a minimum of 25 days, and you’ll be free from that aspect of the work.”

“But nowadays,” Ojo continued, “the chemicals we get to buy, and at exorbitant prices, can only carry your farm for a maximum of 15 days. Woe betide you if you leave your farm for more than 15 days! You’ll hate yourself.” And these chemicals they lamented are both far more expensive and are far less effective, thereby ruining their economics of the venture.

Ojo, however, noted that the nearest thing to the experience of the UPN days in the South West “was the input we received at rates subsidised by the government.” According to him, “we receive text messages through our mobile telephone handsets regarding inputs and fertilizer. With that you’re sure that you’ll pay only two-thirds of the total cost of such materials. This was okay and we loved it because you’re sure of what you get and in good time too. But in the past four years, there hasn’t been anything like that.”

Adeolu Love, who joined the cocoa conversation later referred the Nigerian Tribune to the deplorable state of roads to the farmsteads in Afolu, Obada and Ogbese. Love said Ajegunle was also “a huge farming community but it is so neglected that even motorcyclists find the road impassable.”

Love said “Ajegunle is so large that it is even bigger than many towns in the state with crowned traditional rulers. They have only a baalè (chief) but this is a community which is bounded by Agbado and Aisegba in Gbonyin Local Government Area of the state to as far as Uso in Ondo State. There are really large cocoa farms there.

“Due to bad roads, cocoa from there are taken to Agbado or Aisegba for grading and sometimes even Uso and Owo in Ondo State for grading. This deprives Ise-Ekiti the advantages of the cocoa produced in the local government because the statistics will be to the advantage of Ondo State. This is simply due to bad roads, and this is sad.”

He said “government must do something about the rural roads to the farmsteads because farmers are really suffering the effects of the deplorable road condition. If the roads are repaired, the government will know that a lot of the cocoa you see are from Ise-Ekiti.”

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