Côte d’Ivoire’s Pioneer Fronts: Historical and Political Determinants of the Spread of Cocoa Cultivation

Abstract

The spread of cocoa cultivation in Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) contrasts notably with the process in the other main West African producers, the former British colonies of Nigeria and Ghana (Gold Coast). The large-scale diffusion of cocoa came later in Côte d’Ivoire, and was associated with a more interventionist and restrictive colonial policy on the part of France. Moreover, coffee cultivation was combined with that of cocoa from the 1930s. Last but not least, the ‘pioneer front’ nature of the cocoa boom was much more marked than in Ghana or Nigeria, especially from the 1950s to the 1980s, when a cocoa pioneer front swept from the centre to the south-west of the Ivorian forest zone with remarkable intensity and speed.KeywordsCash CropForest ReserveIvory CoastCocoa ProducerLocal EliteThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.