An Interview with a Cacao Farmer

Poppy:

Hello and welcome to The Poppy Podcast. I’m your host, Poppy. In my new series, “On the Ground,” we speak to people all over the world who do important work. Today we’re calling a cacao farmer from Ghana in West Africa where most of the world’s chocolate comes from. Let’s find out what happens on the ground…

Poppy:

Hi, Kofi! Thank you for agreeing to speak with me. How are you today?

Kofi:

Not so good. Something happened at the cacao farm this morning. I am devastated. 

Poppy:

I’m so sorry to hear that. Would you like to share what happened?

Kofi:

We discovered that almost a third of our trees have developed a disease. Many of the cocoa pods are covered in small dark spots causing them to rot and shrivel. It’s a horrible disease called Black Pod. They must be treated; otherwise, we could lose the trees.  

That’s a third of my harvest gone! I’ll be able to sell only a fraction of what I usually do. I don’t know how we’re going to survive––we already have so little. I’m hoping that the disease doesn’t spread to the rest of farm, for then I’ll be left with nothing. It’s going to be a very tough year.  

Poppy:

That’s awful. How much cacao do you usually produce each year?

Kofi:

I used to produce about 32 sacks of beans, which is about two metric tons. In the past couple of years, I’ve been producing fewer sacks. I think the soil is no longer as fertile as it used to be. I cannot afford to spend money on fertilizer, so there’s nothing much I can do.  

In a year, my farm makes at most 30 Cedis (about USD$5) a day. I have to pay the farmers that work for me. I have to feed my family, too. That leaves us each with about 3 Cedis (USD$0.50) each person, a day. My twelve-year-old son helps on the farm. A few of his friends work for me too––they are not as expensive to hire. 

Poppy:

Do they work on the farm after school?

Kofi:

No. We cannot afford to put our children in school.

Poppy:

I see…

Kofi:

I have to go now. I must go back to work. 

Poppy:

Thank you so much for sharing your struggles with us, Kofi. I want to help. We’ll keep in touch. 

Kofi:

Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you. Goodbye!