Cacao : A cash crop for Benin?

Among the productions intended for export to Benin, there is cocoa, the oil palm, cotton and many others. Apart from cotton, which is cultivated almost everywhere, other cash crops such as cocoa are intended for specific regions.

Cocoa cultivation is an ancient Beninese tradition since the 1980s.. Indeed, during the revolutionary period, agriculture occupied a place of choice and with a view to diversifying income products, President Mathieu Kérékou brought cocoa plants from Ivory Coast, which he distributed free of charge to farmers all over the national territory, namely in Athiémé in the South-West and in the East in the regions of the plateau, namely Sakété and Avrankou and others, in Zangnannado in the Zou, which allowed Benin to leave the transit position to register among the cocoa producing countries. But there was a time when the interview did not follow, which unfortunately affected certain plantations, nevertheless, the most stubborn persisted.

The revival of the sector began in 2003 particularly in the border regions of Nigeria, namely the plateau regions. Since then, the producers had to benefit from a lot of training and with the help of Cra-pp (Agricultural Research Center for Perennial Plants) Poor thing, they were able to buy young plants. What matters will say Edige Tchango, planter in Sèkanmé in Ouémé in the south-east of Benin, it’s maintenance and the hardest, these are the first years.

To plant young plants, you have to take advantage of the rainy season, have a water reserve and water regularly during the dry season. If out of a thousand plants planted, you manage to save 800 it's already a chance for you, another producer will say. “With one hectare, a producer can live his life well”, confides an old planter from Sèkanmé. “In the month of October November, December, It's party time in the village, the money comes in and the producer celebrates” indicates Pierre-Claver Lalo, president of the National Association of Cocoa Planters of Benin, before adding that it is easy for “the cocoa producer to get loans from bankers because they know that with cocoa nothing is lost, everything is transformed. A cocoa field is an inexhaustible wealth”.

Dealing with the vagaries of nature

Apart from the very favorable business environment enjoyed by cocoa in Ivory Coast where it is elevated to the rank of flagship product, the climate also has something to do with it, say Beninese planters. “The vagaries of the climate in Benin do not allow us today to compete with Ivory Coast and Ghana in cocoa production3 informs Pierre-Claver Lalo. However, the president of the National Association of Cocoa Planters of Benin, has faith in the future of the sector. “The training allowed us today to know that we must combine cocoa with cassava. So once planted, during the rainy season, the cocoa plants benefit from enough rainy water and the cassava plants have enough time to gain height to protect the young cocoa plants from the heat of the dry season,” he emphasizes..

Far from climatic hazards, cocoa cultivation requires daily work. The interview. This is the aspect on which Ghislain Zinsou, a young agricultural entrepreneur based in Athiemé in the southwest of Benin, places particular emphasis. “We have to hunt rodents, because when the cocoa field is not well maintained, it’s the rodents who benefit from it,” he teaches.. As well, the cocoa tree at a given age is self-sufficient. “We can speak of self-regulating speculation; because you no longer even need to add fertilizer, the cocoa leaves alone are sufficient to provide the nutrient needs” points out Ghislain Zinsou.

Cacao, to fight against unemployment

Cocoa is its own, a major provider of jobs, specialists and other players in the sector agree. “In a country where 35 years, children continue to reach out to parents to ask for money, the cocoa field alone is a job provider. The cocoa pod is used in soap making., chocolate, the juice ". So many products derived from cocoa alone. At Each Derivative a Solution for Resolving Mass Youth Unemployment. “It can feed the cattle, we can put this in compost and the pods are also used to make fire. Cocoa oil is very popular. As well, is mucilage used in the production of alcohol” informs President Pierre-Claver Lalo.

The involvement of the Beninese state

To revitalize the cocoa sector, the latest information indicates that the State is committed, through the Ministry of Agriculture, breeding and fishing, to invest in large-scale agriculture, never achieved in Benin. He plans to achieve 50.000 hectares of cocoa plantations. Despite the large global production, 4,5 million tonnes per year, Come in 2020 and 2025, production will increase by 20%. But the planters are asking for more. “In order to increase production and improve the standard of living of families affected by cocoa farming, the state must agree to invest in the sector, to organize the sale of cocoa in Benin in order to avoid speculation” add the producers. They propose that a program which will allow more areas to be planted, improve yields per hectare in order to increase cocoa production to several tonnes by 2026, be put in place. Only, there are some apprehensions and bottlenecks according to producers. “We must break with the practice of depositing money at the level of ministries and instead of this benefiting the beneficiaries, it is the executives who become producers instead of the real producers who become those left behind” - they denounced. They can already have the moral guarantee Laurent Gangbès, Director General of the Investment and Export Promotion Agency (Apiex). “Only those who really work the land will be those who will benefit from this approach” reassured Laurent Gangbès, Dg Apiex. A logic is certain among all actors in the cocoa chain. ‘‘The coffee sales market exists and just needs to be explored”.

Brice Tschibozo (Coll)