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As the Government moves towards the revitalisation of the cocoa industry, farmers in north and east Trinidad believe if automated cocoa dryers and incentives for labour are not granted, the industry will soon die. The industry which contributed to T&T’s development for more than 200 years, began during the Spanish colonisation, but declined rapidly in the 1920’s because of falling prices. Since the 1950s, repeated attempts have been unsuccessfully made to revitalise the local cocoa business. In the 1990s, farmers said they were promised leases and incentives to work their cocoa fields but none was provided. Although T&T’s cocoa has been ranked as the best in the world, local cocoa farmers continue to abandon their lands. Cocoa houses, once the hub of activity, now lie dormant.
A few cocoa houses in Mayaro and Manzanilla have been converted into homes, while many others located along Caigual, Toco and Sangre Grande remain deserted and covered with vines and shrubs. With only a few cocoa farmers operating in the Grande Riviere district, many complain of low cocoa prices, high labour costs, praedial larceny and problems in acquiring loans because they did not possess land leases. Former cocoa farmer Terry Valentine, of Mayaro, said he stopped cultivating cocoa 15 years ago. “Cocoa is hard work and after my uncle passed on we could not get labourers to work in the fields,” Valentine explained. He said for generations, the family cultivated cocoa on 28 acres of land.
A few cocoa houses in Mayaro and Manzanilla have been converted into homes, while many others located along Caigual, Toco and Sangre Grande remain deserted and covered with vines and shrubs. With only a few cocoa farmers operating in the Grande Riviere district, many complain of low cocoa prices, high labour costs, praedial larceny and problems in acquiring loans because they did not possess land leases. Former cocoa farmer Terry Valentine, of Mayaro, said he stopped cultivating cocoa 15 years ago. “Cocoa is hard work and after my uncle passed on we could not get labourers to work in the fields,” Valentine explained. He said for generations, the family cultivated cocoa on 28 acres of land.
