Ondo State is located in the South-Western part of Nigeria. It is bounded by Ekiti and Kogi states in the north, Edo State in the east, Delta State in the southeast, Osun and Ogun states in the west, and the Atlantic Ocean in the south. The state falls within the rainforest agro-ecological zone.
Agriculture is the highest employer of labour in the Ondo. It also contributes over seventy percent of the state’s gross domestic product. Even though farmers in the state grow food crops and cash crops for domestic consumption and export, the vegetation in Ondo is more suitable for the cultivation of tree crops like cocoa, oil palm, rubber.
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Cocoa is the major cash crop cultivated in Ondo State. In fact, Ondo is the largest cocoa producing state in the country. Its output capacity is estimated at 77,000 tons per annum. The five dominant cocoa producing local government areas in the state are Idanre, Ondo West, Odigbo, Owo, and Akure South.
Cocoa production in Ondo State is largely in the hands of small scale farmers. These farmers have an average farm size of approximately 2,780 hectares. While some of the farmers in the state operate an inherited farm, some others operate a purchased farm or a share cropping system in which two-third of the produce accrue to land owners who also contribute to the purchase of farming input.
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Cocoa farming in Ondo State is dominated by men. Women are mainly involved in the processing and marketing of agricultural produce. Both family and hired labour are employed in cocoa cultivation. A household’s size is a factor in family labour provision; large households serve as insurance against shortfalls in supply of farm labour.
One factor affecting cocoa farmers in Ondo State is poor price transmission between the export market and the producers. As a result, most cocoa farmers in the state live in poverty; they do not have the money to pay fair wages to their hirelings. Consequently, cases of forced labour, human trafficking, and child labour are common on cocoa farms in Ondo State.
Sources:
Fatai Abiola Sowunmi, Olusegun Adesunloye Obasoro, “Environmental Burden of Fungicide Application among Cocoa Farmers in Ondo State, Nigeria,” www.sciencedirect.com, accessed 13th December, 2019.
Joseph Olumide Oseni and Adewale Quam Adams, “Cost Benefit Analysis of Certified Cocoa Production in Ondo State, Nigeria,” Paper presented at the 4th International Conference of the African Association of Agricultural Economists, 22nd to 25th September, 2013, Hammamet, Tunisia.
Proshare, “Reviving the Cocoa Industry in Nigeria,”www.proshareng.com, accessed 13th December, 2019.
Featured image source: News in Africa
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