Cocoa needs an organization

‘Put my name down for an acre and a half’, the farmer said eagerly, ‘I will put the cocoa just below the breadfruit hollow’. Another farmer confided ‘I have an acre in the mountain, ready for cocoa’. Then one of the effective banana growers asked me this: “How much does it cost to grow one acre of cocoa, and how much money can I make from that acre in 5 years?” These are the ways that our farmers are looking at becoming part of the modern SVG Cocoa industry.{{more}} They are eager, they are watchful, and they are questioning. That is the right mixture of attitudes to adopt. They can’t go wrong.

RESPECT THE INVESTOR – FARMER

Just as the farmer needs to have a proactive mixture of approaches so as to put the cocoa industry on a solid footing, so the industry organizers and the farmers’ movement also must be proactive. They must have respect for farmers as people who will invest their labour, their land, their finance, their management and their family livelihood in the industry. Now, respect is not just about being courteous and nice to farmers. It must show itself in very practical and positive ways. The three most important ways to show respect to farmers are to encourage organization, to share information and to secure strategic materials that the industry needs.

Let us begin with organization. If there is one place where a farmer with land, a farmer eager with readiness and a farmer with questions can find common ground, it is in a farmers’ industry organization. That is the place to start. So, let us ask and answer 3 connected questions. First: what to do to encourage a cocoa organization? Second: who is to do it? Third: where do we start?

A RESPECTABLE ORGANIZATION

To begin with, the message must go out to farmers about the importance of coming together, the examples and benefit of other cocoa farmers’ organizing, and the steps we are taking to put down a strong, trustworthy and democratic organization. Also, we must discuss the operations and the work of producing an international cocoa. We can pass out this word in meetings and even when we meet informally as farmers. That is what we must be doing as self organizers. But who is to do it, who is the “we” who must gather the information and pass it out?

The people who will be active in encouraging farmers to come together fall into 3 groups. We will have energized farmer leaders who are interested as farmers in pushing the industry. The cocoa group is one of these groups of farmers. There are others. Next, there are farmers in every community who can take the discussion and information on the block and encourage organization in their villages. They are the important local leaders. Then, there is the official group of organizers. In this group, we will find the cooperative society leaders, the International Year of Cooperatives group and the department of agriculture. Working together, these groups can bring farmers together for a sustainable cocoa industry. Where then do we start so as to have a cocoa producers’ organization on the ground at this time?

The cocoa group, a small group of farmers, must take the lead and call others to the task. A big national campaign might be too much to undertake. In villages and in the media, the information and education can be launched and centres of registration where farmers can go must be set up. Next week, I should be able to list a few centres where farmers can take the first organizing steps towards our SVG cocoa industry. Respect for farmers means organization and self respect means self organizing. Let’s do it.