Training Needs Analyses of Cocoa Farmers in Kailahun District
Authors: Diawo Joe 
Published: November 2022

This research analyses the training needs of cocoa farmers in eight chiefdoms in Kailahun District, Eastern Sierra Leone. The paper is an in depth examination of the training needs of the target population in order to bridge the information gap in the existing literature. The objectives of the research were to describe the socio-economic characteristics of cocoa farmers in Kailahun District, analyse their training preferences in areas of cultivation, harvest, post-harvest and marketing practices taking into consideration what knowledge and skills they need to have, when to have them, where and how to have them and ascertain the perception of cocoa farmers in the district on training. The findings reveal that cocoa is grown by both male and female cocoa farmers, more adults aged 36-55 than youth aged 18-36 and the aged, 55 and above were involved in cocoa production in the district, 85.4% of cocoa farmers in the district were married compared to the widowed, 10%; divorced, 1.9%; and single, 2.7%., almost all the male cocoa farmers were polygamous and had many children as labour sources required for work on the cocoa farms, majority of the farmers have been in cocoa farming for a minimum of five years. More than 50% of the farmers had more than one cocoa plantation, the combined acreage of the cocoa farms owned by more than 50% of the farmers was over five acres per farmer, more cocoa farmers (60%) as opposed to 39.7% accepted having received training on various aspects of cocoa farming, major sources of training received were dealers, colleague cocoa farmers, others like development partners interested in cash crop farming, most of the trainings conducted lasted between 1-4 days (29.8%) and 5-10 days (20.5%), a good number of the farmers claimed to have been trained in many of the areas of cocoa farming, though 31.3% of the farmers claimed not to have received any training, the most preferred training method identified by the farmers was on the farm demonstration, the most preferred time of training was in the morning, more youth and adults claimed to have received training in recent times than the aged, cocoa farmers needed training in sorting of dried cocoa beans, grading, cocoa certification, price determination of cocoa, standard number of shade trees per hectare of cocoa, preferable times for under-brushing, strategies for pest management and reasons for the low price of cocoa from Sierra Leone, cocoa farmers had a positive perception about the following: significance of training for cocoa farmers, appropriate spacing of cocoa trees to increase yield, regular under-brushing of cocoa farms to minimise competition with weeds for nutrients, promote easy movement across the farm, reduce pests and increase yield, cultural justification of child labour, gender imbalance tilted in favour of men, the need for women to know and have a say about the use of proceeds from the sale of cocoa, the need for farmers to produce quality cocoa to attract better prices, the need to ferment and thoroughly dry cocoa to attract better prices, the need for proper waste management on cocoa farms, the need to harvest and break the pods to remove the seeds using the right tools, the need to rehabilitate aging cocoa plantations, and the need to keep cocoa beans in jute bags instead of nylon bags, their perceptions about the following were however negative: child labour, the need to grow cocoa on suitable soil, waste management on cocoa farms and the need for care in harvesting and breaking of cocoa pods and the need to keep cocoa separate from other items among others. It is concluded that cocoa farmers in Kailahun District have had training in several aspects of cocoa farming, but still genuinely have training needs that should be addressed. This is because in the first place, a good number of the farmers have never had an opportunity to be trained in any aspect of cocoa farming. Second, even those who have benefitted from one training or the other still require refresher training or training in other aspects of cocoa farming that they have not received training in. Third, the world is dynamic and as such, new knowledge and farming techniques come up regularly that need to trickle down to farmers in the field so that the required impact is created on the sector. These can be done through training the cocoa farmers. It is recommended that farmers should enroll with adult education institutions for some form of adult education in Numeracy, Literacy, record keeping, soil conservation and other related areas for which training. This, coupled with the training by extension agents can enhance their knowledge and skills in cocoa production, increase the quantity and quality of the yield, raise the quantum of their earnings and their standard of living; the Ministry of Agriculture in collaboration with the Ministry of Technical and Higher Education and development partners in agriculture and technical and higher education should take the lead in providing the training opportunities for cocoa farmers by establishing adult education centres in rural communities so that farmers do not envisage many problems attending the classes; farmers who have proven to be resistant to accepting innovations should be encouraged to adopt new technics, new methods of cocoa production and cultivate new and high yielding cocoa varieties; the Amazon variety was found to be creating the desired impact of cultivation among cocoa farmers in the district.