Fresh red cacao fruit, main; and a chimpanzee lazing in a tree, below
range of animals, including at least 60 critically endangered species
– and the elusive pygmy hippo. The farmers’ drive towards forestfriendly cultivation means spurning the advances of traders who offer to buy up cacao beans regardless of their provenance and cultivation methods – beans likely to end up in mass-produced bars.
In return for opting instead for certified production, the rainforest farmers get not only premium prices but the chance to preserve their ancestral environment for future generations. Brima was one of the leading advocates of change around the forest, walking for miles from village to village to persuade groups of farmers to sign up to the protocols.
He is convinced that this is the right way forward. “We protect the forest, and the forest protects us. The forest makes sure that we have rain for our crops, and fresh air. Seeds from the forest bring us companion plants that help the cacao to grow well – they give not too much shade, not too much sun.”
Birds and other wildlife from the forest come into what Brima calls the “buffer zone” of cacao to rest, and in so doing control naturally the pests that might otherwise harm the crop. “So our yields improve.”
And so life for the forest farming communities improves. There is funding for better water supplies, and funding for better transport infrastructure. Other changes, too, come with Fairtrade certification: “Gender issues,” Brima acknowledges, with a smile. “This is a change. Now we have gender officers, and at times they serve as relationship counsellors. We have a child labour officer as well – an advocate for children.”
There is an Environmental Protection Unit as well, to make sure that communal bodies of water are protected, and that unscrupulous folk are not diverting water from drinking reservoirs to farm irrigation. “That’s something the Premium Committee can think about too, when they decide how to spend our money,” Brima explained. “We could build a well.”
All of these things are making life better for the farming communities on the edge of the rainforest, protecting the local ecosystem – and incidentally ensuring a healthy supply of bananas and mangoes for those pesky chimpanzees.
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