MIGRATION AND LABOR RELATIONS

IN WEST AFRICA‘S COCOA INDUSTRY

Charlotte Lonitz I Seminar Working The Land I 13.01.2022
AGENDA

1. Literature review on agriculture and migration

2. Cocoa Production in West Africa
1. Status and labor relations in the cocoa industry
2. History of cocoa and migration
3. Types of migrants and migration
4. Motives for migration – Pull and push factors
5. Working and living conditions of migrants
6. Literature
COCOA CULTIVATION
GLOBAL COCOA PRODUCTION

Côte d‘Ivoire:
2.13 million t
(2019/20)

Ghana:
0.81 million t
(2019/20)

ICCO 2020
COCOA PRODUCTION IN GHANA AND CÔTE D‘IVOIRE

~ 1.5 million farmers

~ 20 million indirectly
dependent people

Mainly small-scale farming (0.5 – 5 ha)

Combination of family labor and

hired labor

Jedwab et al. 2015: 48

ORIGINS OF COCOA

Cacao drying in the sun of Maracas, Trinidad (1903)

District Density of Cocoa Production and Cities in 1921

Jedwab et al. 2015: 49

District Density of Cocoa Production and Cities in 1931

Jedwab et al. 2015: 50

District Density of Cocoa Production and Cities in 1948

Jedwab et al. 2015: 50

District Density of Cocoa Production and Cities in 1960-65

Jedwab et al. 2015: 51

District Density of Cocoa Production and Cities in 1970-75

Jedwab et al. 2015: 51

District Density of Cocoa Production and Cities in 1984-88

Jedwab et al. 2015: 52

District Density of Cocoa Production and Cities in 1998-2000

Jedwab et al. 2015: 52

District Density of Cocoa Production in 2009

Jedwab et al. 2015: 53

Evolution of Cocoa Production in the main Ivorian
Cocoa Regions 1965-1989

Evolution of Cocoa Production in the Ghanaian

Cocoa Regions 1960-2000

Ruf et al. 2015: 105

Ruf 2007: 6
TYPES OF MIGRANTS AND MIGRATION

Socio-demographic characteristics
 Predominantly male (85% men1)
 Relatively young (average: 37 years1)
 Workers: usually unmarried; Farmers: entire families
 Relatively low level of formal education 1
 Origin:
 Drier northern regions and neighboring countries (e.g. Burkina
Faso, Mali)
 Eastern regions

1
Amfo et al. 2020: 247
TYPES OF MIGRANTS AND MIGRATION

Property and labor relations

 Smallholder farmers vs. Hired laborers
 Sharecropping/“Leasing“

Seasonality
 Seasonal migrants vs. Permanent migrants

Voluntariness
 Forced migration & labor vs. Intrinsic migration
MOTIVES FOR MIGRATION – PUSH AND PULL FACTORS

Work and profit opportunities

• (Un)employment
• High profit/income expectations
• Social status & benefits

Availability and Quality of land

• Demand for cocoa farm land
• Population density & Land prices
• Status of farm (age of trees)  Productivity

Climatic conditions
• Climate gradient
• Climate disasters
• Climate change & deforestation
CLIMATE CHANGE AND COCOA PRODUCTION

Predicted Deterioration of Cocoa Producing Suitable Areas

Forest clearing for agricultural use

Läderach et al. 2013: 848

MOTIVES FOR MIGRATION – PUSH AND PULL FACTORS

Life cycle decision and cocoa farmer generations

• Wish & expectation to earn money/start own farm
• Generational cycles

Personal relations and role models

• Copying effect

Policies and external framework conditions

• Governmental migration policies & Labor recruitment
• Land access policies
• Global economic situation, Cocoa demand & prices
• National labor regulations
SOCIAL, ECONOMIC & LABOR RELATIONS OF COCOA
MIGRANTS

Working Conditions

• Bad remuneration
• Low level of formality
• Much non-permanent employment, diverse occupations
• Long working hours
• Hazardous work & poor safety precautions
• Exploitative child labor
• Denial of workers‘ rights/no organization

 Generally unsatisfied with working condititions

23.02.2024
SOCIAL, ECONOMIC & LABOR RELATIONS OF COCOA
MIGRANTS

Living conditions
• Poor housing conditions
• Limited access to community services and infrastructure
• Poor health and nutritional situations
• Limited access to education

Social relations with indigenous communities

• Differing level of integration and relation with local community

• Land tenure and disrespect of traditional land inheritance & use as basis for conflict
 Perceived threat from immigrants, xenophobic attitudes, nationalist narratives23.02.2024
CONCLUSION

 Migration as „fuel“ for West African cocoa boom, backbone of the industry

 Distinctive geographical pattern/cycles: North – South and East – West

 Diverse “types” and motives for migration

 Farmers & Hired laborers

 Economic, ecological, social and political push and pull factors

 Typically precarious working and living conditions

 Future: evasive migration possibilities limited, sustainable intensive instead of extensive strategies needed