Cocoa in the Tobago sun

Dr Rita Pemberton

THE DEMISE of Tobago’s sugar industry created two problems for both the imperial and local administrations. Primary consideration was given to searching for an appropriate replacement export crop which could bring attractive financial returns and put the island’s coffers in a healthier position.

Secondly, and related to the first, was the very urgent need to deal with the quantum of abandoned estate land. It was most desirable to make plantation agriculture an attractive pursuit, if only a profitable export crop could be found.

The lurking fear was that this land could fall into the hands of the section of the population whose role in the economic system was fixed as “the labour force.” This was a crucial matter, because, given the land hunger of the freed Africans, it was recognised that if they were allowed to come into possession of the abandoned land there would be implications for the social system which were undesirable to the ruling class.

Whatever the solution to be adopted, land must not fall into the hands of the Africans without adequate controls.

After the failure to attract investors, the question was settled by a decision to sell land in five-acre parcels to the African workers, who were then classified as peasants. Because of the high prices cocoa commanded on the European market, the decision was to foster a cocoa industry.

However, some large planters were not initially supportive. In addition, Africans in Tobago were not versed in cocoa culture, and relations between planters and workers were bitter.

Cocoa was introduced into Tobago as a possible export crop after the demise of the sugar industry at the end of the 19th century. Having only been exposed to sugar cultivation, the new peasant farmers were considered ideal for the introduction of cocoa with the assistance of a cocoa instructor and Grenadian immigrants who already had experience in cocoa cultivation.

The earliest efforts were not as successful as could be hoped,and as a result there were complaints about the quality of Tobago’s cocoa.

During the years after Emancipation, the freed Africans faced hostility from the large planter class, who sought to maintain the conditions of enslavement, and they were distrustful of an administration which did not demonstrate concern for their welfare. The poor relationship was not ideal for grafting a new culture on the island.

One of the resistance strategies the workers used to overcome their challenges was to co-operate and take unified positions to support themselves and their communities. As a result, the people of Tobago established a reputation for co-operation which was demonstrated after Emancipation. This level of co-operation was effectively used in developing the island’s cocoa industry.

The early years of cocoa cultivation were difficult for the farmers. In addition to the poor quality of their produce, prices were low. Wet cocoa sold at one cent per pound and dry cocoa beans at six cents per pound. On the other hand, the daily wage of a cocoa worker was 36 cents and the process of producing cocoa was labour-intensive; hence the planters operated at a loss. Also, there were major problems in accessing credit.

Cocoa was sweated in the fields wrapped in banana leaves and then carted to the farmer’s yard to be dried. To compound matters, heavy rains in 1921 and 1922 and the crash of the cocoa industry in Trinidad in 1922 were setbacks. Despite these problems, Tobago marched on and it was the freed Africans' inclination to co-operate that was used to strengthen cocoa cultivation.

The authorities facilitated meetings to discuss the problems encountered by the cocoa farmers and find solutions. It was recognised that there were no formal organisations of small farmers, so the Windward Agricultural Society was inaugurated in 1916, closely followed by the Leeward Agricultural Society. They were later merged into the District Agricultural Society of Tobago.

Discussions at the meetings of these societies focused on the cocoa farmers' problems. The airing of the matter of credit resulted in the formation in June 1917 of the Pembroke Agricultural Credit Society, followed in quick succession by societies in Delaford and Roxborough. Between 1917 and 1928, 12 agricultural credit societies were registered.

Facilities available to cocoa farmers increased from 1915, and in July 1918 ten members of the Pembroke Agricultural Society agreed to form the Pembroke Co-operative Cocoa Fermentary, the first on the island, in 1927. It was formally opened on February 1, 1929, and registered in 1931.

The Co-operative Society Ordinance, passed in 1931, enabled the government to assist the cocoa farmers with loans. The Roxborough Co-operative Cocoa Fermentary was registered on June 16, 1932, but was started in 1931. It operated in a cocoa house owned by one of its members until the society could buy the building. The Delaford Cocoa Fermentary began operations in 1934.

These fermentaries led to an improvement in the quality of cocoa, which moved from ordinary to the plantation grade.

The peasants struggled on, but the quality of their produce remained poor because of the method used. Each man had a drying tray in his field, while he collected a basket or two from the field and processed a few pounds of beans at a time. The fermentaries permitted the use of sweat boxes and drying trays, which facilitated the processing of larger quantities of beans.

The fermentaries also served other producers. For example, the buildings were used for meetings of the agricultural credit societies, limes were collected there for the Co-operative Lime Grower Association and they were used as food collection depots by the Producers Association.

Peasant producers were advised to process the cocoa by the fermentary method. At the time, low cocoa prices led some to abandon their fields. Those who struggled on were encouraged to use new methods.

The result was an improvement in the price producers received and of the quality and quantity of cocoa produced on the island. In 1952-53 Roxborough produced 311 1/2 pounds of dry cocoa for every 100 pounds of wet cocoa received, while in 1955-56, 361 1/2 lbs were received from the same quantity. In 1955/56 the fermentary received 131,560 pounds of wet cocoa, the largest in the island.

These fermentaries kept Tobago’s cocoa in the sun, gave impetus to its cocoa industry in a critical period and made the island a significant contributor to cocoa production in the colony during the 1930s.