MONGABAY.COM
Mongabay.com seeks to raise interest in and appreciation of wild lands and wildlife, while examining the impact of emerging trends in climate, technology, economics, and finance on conservation and development (more)
WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
|
|
Ivory Coast
Index
In 1987 the staple food crops made up about 38 percent
of the
value of agricultural production. The principal food crops
in Côte
d'Ivoire were the féculents, or starches (yams,
plantains,
cassava, and taro), which made up 76 percent of the value
and 60
percent of the bulk of staples output. Gross production
per annum
amounted to approximately 4.5 million tons. Gross
production of
cereals (paddy rice, maize, sorghum, and millet) amounted
to about
1 million tons per year; however, cereals, which occupied
a larger
cultivated area than did the féculents, had a
higher of
value total protein. Food crop production increased by
approximately 3.4 percent per annum between 1965 and 1984,
with
cereals having a slightly higher rate of growth. At the
same time,
food crop productivity per rural family increased by about
1
percent per year, well under the rate of population
growth. This
shortfall, along with a preference on the part of much of
the
population for imported rice and bread over indigenous
foodstuffs,
increased rice and wheat imports to a high of 590,000 tons
in 1983,
or about 40 percent of national cereals consumption.
Cereal imports
dropped to 150,000 tons in 1985 after prices for imported
foodstuffs had increased, good rains had ended the
drought, and the
government had inaugurated a food self-sufficiency
campaign. In
1987 imported cereals amounted to about 14 percent of the
national
diet, as compared with 20 percent earlier in the decade.
Measured by area cultivated and tonnage, yams were the
leading
food crop, especially in the region east of the Bandama
River. A
number of varieties of yams grew in Côte d'Ivoire,
differing by
size of tubers, moisture requirements, and length of
growing
season. Yams had stringent soil needs, however, and
demanded far
more labor to plant and harvest than the other root crops
required.
In addition, roughly one-quarter of the crop had to be
reserved to
seed the next crop. Seed yams were planted near the top of
conical
mounds, usually two to four feet high and three to four
feet apart,
and formed from finely cultivated soil. Usually other
crops such as
corn, beans, tomatoes, or peas were planted on the sides
of the
mounds. Providing support for the yam vines (which could
reach as
high as twenty feet) were either stakes or liana--long,
climbing
vines--which hung from dead, leafless trees purposely left
standing
in the yam fields in the forest zone. Depending on the
variety, the
yam tubers, which varied in weight from a kilogram or less
to as
much as forty kilograms, were ready for harvest after
about eight
months. The best yields in the Bouaké region were about
12.4 tons
per hectare. In the more humid south, the yield was
higher, and
further north it was lower. The heaviest yam-producing
areas were
around Bouaké, Séguéla, and Korhogo.
West of the Bandama River, rice was the principal food
crop
although rice cultivation was spreading across Côte
d'Ivoire
wherever conditions were suitable. Local farmers had
cultivated a
native variety of rice for centuries. In the twentieth
century,
however, French colonial administrators introduced more
prolific
Oriental species of both upland (dry) rice and paddy rice.
Dry rice
predominated, probably because it required less
technology, matured
more quickly, and could be interplanted with other crops.
Dry rice
matured in about three months and yielded about 560
kilograms per
hectare, compared with a five- to six-month maturation
period for
wet rice and yields averaging 786 kilograms per hectare.
Among cereals, maize followed rice in tonnage
harvested. It was
planted throughout the country; however, except in the
northwest
where most maize was produced, it was subsidiary to other
crops.
Local varieties of maize matured in as little as two
months, making
it particularly suited to the north, where it could be
planted
after the first rains in May and harvested during the
period when
old yam stocks were depleted and the new yams were not yet
mature.
In the south, two crops per year were common. Because
maize
depletes the soil, farmers often interplanted it with
other crops
such as yams, beans, and gourds or cultivated it in
fertilized
household gardens. Yields, which were low by Western
standards,
averaged nearly 1.3 tons per hectare, reflecting the
absence of
both fertilizers and mechanized farming practices. As was
true for
other crops, insects, rodents, and, in the south,
moisture, made
maize storage difficult.
Other important food crops were plantains and cassava.
The
plantain, which is of the same genus as the banana,
followed yams
in annual tonnage harvested. Because it required sustained
rainfall, production was limited to the south, where it
was often
interplanted with cocoa. Plantains were raised from shoots
removed
from the base of a mature tree. The shoot formed a stalk
(about
three meters high) that bore a single cluster of fruit
ready for
harvest after twelve to fifteen months. After the
plantains were
harvested, the stalk was cut off at ground level, and a
new shoot
was allowed to sprout. After five or six years, the old
root system
was removed, and a new tree was planted. Harvesting
continued
throughout the year; yields varied with soil conditions
but
averaged just under five tons per hectare.
Manioc, which served as a hedge against famine, was
third in
importance after yams and plantains. Cassava was also a
root crop
that was easy to cultivate, resisted pests and drought,
and took
little from the soil, yet still produced fair yields.
Because
cassava was propagated by stem cuttings, the entire crop
could be
used for food. The growing period was from six to fifteen
months,
but even after the roots matured, they could be left in
the ground
for several years without damage. In the south, where two
plantings
per year were common, cassava was often interplanted with
other
crops and held in reserve or planted as a final crop
before a field
was abandoned for fallow. In the north, only a single
planting per
year was possible. Estimates of yields ranged from about
five tons
to just under ten tons per hectare. These figures were
unreliable,
however, because roots were harvested only when needed.
Other food crops included taro (in the south) and
varieties of
millet and sorghum (in the north). Individual households
raised
garden vegetables, including okra, tomatoes, peanuts, and
eggplant,
in small plots near dwellings or interplanted among field
crops.
Tropical fruit trees, both wild and domestic, produced
sweet
bananas, avocados, oranges, papayas, mangoes, coconuts,
lemons, and
limes. Oil palms and shea trees provided cooking oils.
Even in the best of years, Côte d'Ivoire imported vast
quantities of wheat, rice, meat, and milk. To achieve food
selfsufficiency , the agricultural recovery program proposed by
the
Council of Ministers sought to increase production of
rice, maize,
peanuts, and the newly introduced soybeans, all of which
were grown
primarily in the northern savanna zone. In addition, the
government
intended to revamp the Food Marketing Bureau (Office pour
la
Commercialisation des Produits Vivriers--OCPV) to
streamline the
marketing of such food crops as yams, plantains, and
manioc.
Finally, the Council of Ministers also inaugurated a
project to
achieve self-sufficiency in animal proteins.
Data as of November 1988
|
|