Cocoa Marketing Board and the Sustainable Cocoa Economy in Colonial Nigeria

Abstract

The Nigeria Cocoa Marketing Board was a post-war arrangement aimed at continuing the war-time control on cocoa trade in West Africa. Besides trade arrangements, the Board got involved in the improvement and sustainability of the cocoa industry in Nigeria. This point has either been missed out or mentioned only in passing by the hitherto existing literature on the subject. This is due to the concentration by scholars on the discussion of price stabilization and fiscal roles of the board, which in turn is due partly to the dominance of economists in the analysis of the subject. This study seeks to fill this knowledge gap by examining the contributions of the Nigeria Cocoa Marketing board to the development and sustainability of the cocoa economy in colonial Nigeria. The board intervened in the areas of disease control, cocoa and soil survey, rehabilitation of infected areas, quality assurance, and research into the economy of cocoa industry. Archival sources provided data for this analysis. It is a contribution to knowledge in the areas of the colonial economy, marketing boards, and the cocoa industry.