CTC taps small farmers in 1,000 hectares Cacao farm
Sierra Leone, Freetown: Commodity Trading Company is tapping small farmers in its 1,000 hectares of cocoa plantation in its bid to become the country’s top Cacao producer.
The company, has ventured into agriculture, growing cocoa and the Deputy Managing Director Khalil Halloway said “we are succeeding”. They have reached their third year in the planting stage having passed the danger stage which is the first and second year. During that period the plants die in the nursery and when they take them from the nursery to transplant them in the field. The loss according to Kahlil is usually in the region of 30 percent but for CTC he said they only lost about 25 percent. The plants he said are now grown and at this stage the weather will not destroy them.
“We are continuously educating small farmers on how to put small additives like local manure or fertilize, and organic materials. We are priding ourselves that we have organic Cocoa, and we plan to sell it at a premium. The farmers will get from that premium sale and not only the trader” Khalil said. He explained that the growing demand in the local and world markets pushed them to promote Cacao among small farmers. He cited the country’s terrain and climatic condition which he says are suitable for the crop.
He is confident that if this project materializes, it will surely benefit more farmers who are willing to venture into Cacao farming. “The common problem among our farmers is the capital and the market. I think this proposal can help solve the puzzle” he said in an interview.
He hopes that, if they manage to succeed on this project which is a five year period they will go into it more, especially with the help they got from several clients in Europe.
The company currently exports approximately 2,500 to 3,000 tons of Cacao annually, which sells for around $7 to $8 million a year. But, that he said depends on the crop of the year, when it is good they export 3,000 but when it is bad they do 2,500.
With exports diminishing, Halloway says that is one factor that is affecting exchange rate. He explained that they were selling Cacao in July, suddenly in August the rains came down heavily, it got wet, so they cannot export it; when that happens it also affects the exchange rate.