The Changing Patterns of Labor Relations in the Cocoa Farming Belt of Southwestern Nigeria, 1950s to 1990s

he 194os and 195os witnessed the greatest expansion of the cocoa economy of southwestern Nigeria as migrants from several Yoruba-speaking areas came to Ife and Ondo in large numbers to establish new farms.' The labor involved in establishing new farms in the rapidly growing cocoa belt was enormous. Migrant farmers and their families had to use hired help in cutting down trees, clearing the thick undergrowth, and preparing the soil for cocoa cultivation. In the early years of cocoa growing, the majority of the cocoa farmers employed laborers either on annual contracts or on short-term contracts of up to three months.' In the 1970s, however, conditions began to change as a result of the exodus of substantial numbers of laborers from the cocoa