One of the approximately 100 cocoa fields in Epsom, St. Mary. Farmers have given up on the crop and many have abandoned their fields to weeds.
Tamara King, Staff Reporter
THE ALMOST-DEAD cocoa industry is to get a lifesaving $26 million from Government to keep it from perishing. This amount is $10.6 million less than the estimated cost to resuscitate farms in St. Mary, Portland and St. Thomas, the main cocoa-growing areas in Jamaica.
The $26 million awarded is approximately 8.6 per cent of the $300 million that Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr. Omar Davies announced during his budget presentation on April 15.
Albert Shand, executive director of the Rural Agricultural Develop-ment Authority (RADA), the agency which will implement the rehabilitation alongside the Cocoa Industry Board said: "We prepared a project to rehabilitate 1,538 acres of cocoa in the first year, and 850 acres in the second year." The parishes that will be targeted in the first instance are St. Mary, Portland and St. Thomas. It is set to begin this spring."
ESTIMATED TO COST $36.4 MILLION
Though the total cost of the project is estimated to cost $36.4 million, the Government will provide only $26 million and the farmers are expected to find the rest.
In explaining how the scheme will operate, Mr. Shand said that 30 per cent of the money will be given as grants to farmers to help with crop-cleaning, fertilisation, reaping and the overall maintenance of the fields.
When asked about the available markets mentioned in the budget, Mr. Shand said: "They claim that there is market for at least 2,500-3,000 tonnes of dry cocoa. However, last year they were only able to supply 767 tonnes."
Therefore, one of the aims of the Cocoa Rehab Project is to move the output of cocoa to 40 boxes per acre. Currently, the output of cocoa is as low as three boxes per acre.
Mr. Shand warns farmers who claim it is better to leave their cocoa to be eaten by rats that if they do not grow the crop it leaves others the opportunity to step into the market.
Jamaica competes with West African countries such as Ivory Coast and Cameroon in the global market.
Despite the fact that Jamaica does not enjoy large-scale production of cocoa, local farmers still have an edge because of the high quality and the richness of locally-grown cocoa. It is said that in most instances the island's cocoa is used to blend with other cocoa in order to augment quality.
Also, Mr. Shand said that locally-grown cocoa is the priciest on the world market and commands 1,150 pounds per tonne which is $500 more than the usual sale price. When the market is not glutted, it is known to fetch 1,600 pounds per tonne. For example, a few years ago when there was a shortage on the global market as a result of a strike in Cameroon, the price of cocoa went up. Even so, Jamaica was not able to take advantage of this scarcity owing to the sorry state that the cocoa industry is in. However this Rehab Project is hoping to fix the problem.
Under this programme the farmers will have to give proof of access to the land, whether it is owned by them or leased or they have permission from parents or relative to use it for a minimum of 10 years, Dunstan Gaynor of the Cocoa Industry Board said.
"They have to be producing and supplying cocoa," he said, pointing out that since the resources are scarce no time will be wasted on those farmers who are not interested in the crop.
Too little, too late?
The Jamaica cocoa industry to be resuscitated
LOW PRICES, high cost of production, neglect of farms, rats and disease have driven cocoa production into the ground. And just when most of the farmers left in the industry were about to pack up their tools, Government announced plans in the 2003 Budget Debate to resuscitate the industry.
But is this a little too late to get the industry up and flourishing? Cocoa growers in Epsom and Richmond in St. Mary, say the news is good, but may be too late for some. Many of them have just about given up on cocoa farming.
According to the farmers it is no longer worthwhile to grow cocoa because of the low price that they are being paid per box. Some have already turned their backs on the crop, choosing instead to cut down the cocoa trees and substitute plantains which is offering a more attractive price.
Winston Campbell, 78, has been farming for 60 years, and can recall vividly, a time when cocoa gave pride, joy and, most importantly, money to farmers.
"1989, we used to get approximately $350 per box and at that time, you could use $100 and send to the market and purchase everything for your domestic needs and pay a taxi to take you home," he said.
"That $350 that you get for one box of wet cocoa beans could serve you for three weeks and buy you the basic necessities. Today you would have to sell ten boxes of cocoa at the current price to buy yourself one week supply (of food items)," he laments.
Dunstan Gaynor, coordinator of Production and Extension at the Cocoa Industry Board, acknowledged that cocoa is in a general state of deterioration.
"Over the past three or four years, production had declined dramatically all over the entire island and even more so in St. Mary."
"One of the main reasons for this decline is that most of the farmers have neglected the cocoa fields. Hence the trees are overgrown, they have problems with blackpod disease or rats damaging the pods and the fields are either in bush or general ruins," he said.
However the farmers countered that the low price that they are being given for cocoa coupled with a reduction in their purchasing power as a result of inflation have made it impossible to care for their cocoa plants as they would have liked.
Mr. Campbell who is one of roughly 100 cocoa farmers in the Epsom area, noted that there has been a reduction in the amount per acre that cocoa is yielding in the area.
"Formerly you could get, even say, 30-40 boxes when you could afford to care your cultivation but today you can't get no more than five boxes," he said.
The national average has fallen, agreed Mr. Gaynor. It is now 12-15 boxes per acre while the ideal number 50-60 boxes. At present only a few farmers are meeting this target.
"I can only speak for my area out in Belfield," said Lucien Rattray, a 10-year cocoa farmer. "In that area many of the small people have not really been tending their plants and some have not really been reaping. So you have run-down areas."
He echoed the general sentiments of other cocoa farmers. "When you talk to persons in the area they are talking about prices and about the high cost of inputs."
However, Mr. Rattray is glad that the cocoa industry is getting the much needed help. While cocoa does not contribute much to the country's fiscal budget it is one of the traditional crops that provides a livelihood for many farmers said Albert Shand, executive director of Rural Agricultural Development Authority, (RADA). For these farmers, the destruction of cocoa is nothing short of tragic.
Lenworth Taylor, RADA Extension Officer for Annotto Bay, explained that the price of agricultural inputs such as fertilisers have increased and the farmers are finding it difficult to maintain their fields. According to Taylor, most of these farmers are very old and have to get added labour to reap their crop. He said that when the farmer subtracts his labour cost he is often left with a tiny profit.
- T.K.
