Do Not Sell Cocoa Farmers

There are many parties, deliberately or not, make the farmers the commodity. Let us see in several elections. The society group that become the priority of the candidates in the agriculture-based areas is farmers. Why?

1.                  Farmers are the majority

2.                  Farmers are associated with poverty

3.                  Farmers are the ones most easily manipulated

There will always be emotional effect in each saying mentioning “farmers”.

We are the advocate of “farmer”

We are the friends of “farmers”

We are pro “farmers”

As if those sayings become the most effective mantra that can gain farmers’ vote. Yet, after getting the position, the farmers’ lives do not become better. They are forgotten. But ironically, this modus repeated again and again.

The same goes to the cocoa farmers. Many parties accomodate the cocoa farmers to get more benefits. I often heard the information that numerous companies or NGOs directly foster the cacao farmers. If you read the report on their activities, it will appear as though what they are doing are extraordinary.

In a paper that I read I found that there was a company claimed to have supported thousands of farmers in Ivory Coast to give them better lives. Various trainings are given. The company helped the farmers to get the market (in terms that the company is willing to buy their cacao beans that they actually needed and they assumed that a form of kindness). “We have helped thousands of farmers”, is their claim stated in their official website.

Selling Cocoa Farmers?

I have come across a cocoa processing unit in Sulawesi bearing the sign of an NGO. Then I tried to find out what kind of activities performed by that NGO in that place. One of the members of the farmer group of this processing unit stated that this NGO gave trainings.

“We  are trained to do fermentation and we are thought on how to take care our plantation properly.”

“Are you the member of Cocoa National Movement?”

He nodded.

“Then, what new things that you get, and how often the people from that NGO come to your place?”

He glanced at me with hesittion. He seemed to not have any answer for my question.

“There is nothing new, Sir. It is the same as what the personnels from the government have taught us,” he said “They also came here occassionally, only during big harvest”.

“Then, do they buy the cocoa bean from the farmers with higher price?”

He shook his head. “We even suffered from loss, Sir, because we have paid the farmers at market price, but when we send them to the factories, we received reduction.”

Then, the farmer revealed that one day the person from that NGO brought a foreigner to the processng unit. They also took a picture of the processing unit and the members, and they said that they would make a film. The farmers are asked to smile and show their thumbs up.

I immediately asked the farmer to put down the NGO sign in the processing unit established fully from the state budget fund. It is clearly a wrong thing to do. It is one of the form of farmer selling unfairly.

How to?

The story above is one of the modus operandi of the “cocoa farmer selling”. You might not seen something wrong with this.

In many occasions, I usually found similar ways done by either trader companies, processing companies or even NGO. They seem to give trainings for the farmers and have given contribution for the farmers, although the fact is:

1.                  They only gave training for something that is not new, such as waste management to be organic, SLPHT, plantation maintenance.

2.                  They use the government training personnels to deliver the training materials to the farmers.

3.                  Their main motive is to get the assurance of raw material, but they claim to be helping the farmers to get the market.

4.                  They put on a sign in a plantation or processing unit that has been established using the fund from the government.

But there are several reports that I have read revealing those companies or NGOs claimed to do various activities to support farmers, and those activities are used to get the sypathy from the buyers. Or for the NGO, they can get the funding from the donors. While actually, the farmers do not get any benefit from their presence.

The question is why the “farmer assisstance program” is interesting?

Actually, what is spreading in the mind of the people in Europe is to ensure that what they consume are produced in proper ways, which do not damage the environment and do not exploit children, minorities and disadvantaged people. Consumers also want to ensure a fair trade, in which the company shares benefits with its partners, such as farmers.

Therefore, many companies approach the comunity or farmer in this case, sincerely or manipulatively. The NGOs that are also related to the marginal people can easily get the funding from the companies that want to build their image. 

I am not saying that it is a bad thing. Consumers’ peference in the developed countries that wants to make sure that what they consume are produced in proper ways is a good thing, but on the other hand, it creates a practice of “selling marginal people”, one of which are farmers.

I am sure that there are many farmer assiting activities done with sincere intention. But it does not necessarily eliminate the possibility that those activites are done to “sell cocoa farmers”. They then export their “manipulative activities” in the form of appealing commercial videos and a well-arranged report.