IGBOSCHOLARS INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF IGBO SCHOLARS FORUM, NIGERIA

Cocoa is one of the main cash crops in Nigeria. Its large scale production transcended the colonial times in the country. In Cross River State for example, Ikom with some other towns and villages are known for cocoa production. The crop emerged as the mainstay of the local economy of Ikom with those places recognized for production of cocoa up to 2015. It is equally unearthed that numerous people, especially those whose origin is traced to the towns drew supports from the proceeds of cocoa farms to dignify themselves in their various fields. Yet, cocoa farming was not fully mechanized up to the terminal of the study. It is however, verifiable that Ndi-Igbo mainly provided labour for cocoa production in the area since 1970. The indigenous people of the areas and the government of Cross River State have the land and sometimes, raised the farms, but Ndi Igbo performed the tasks of maintaining the farms, and producing the crop. Hired labour and sharecropping were the bases for Igbo provision of Labour in the areas. Before the end of 1980s, some Igbo farmers in the towns had started re-investing their savings to acquire lands by either rent or outright purchase to raise their own cocoa plantations. It is further discovered that the civil war and its attendant effects were responsible for influx of the Igbo into the cocoa farms in Cross River and other states in Nigeria. Ndi-Igbo believed that it was one of the enterprises to venture into with little or no capital. Primary and secondary sources were relied on while its data were analyzed qualitatively, using content analysis and thematic approaches.

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