I’m thinking about culture. Not just any culture. Cocoa culture.
On 7 April 2022, I was in Lagos, Nigeria for the 3rd Eko Chocolate Show. The yearly event is an idea of the visionary HRM Oba Dokun Thompson, Oloni (King) of Eti-Oni, Osun State, Nigeria.
It was an exciting four-day event full of insightful moments for me. We had cocoa product exhibitions, discussions on the business of chocolate, and even a film festival! Storyteller, so I heard some fascinating stories of chocopreneurs in Nigeria, too.
For the first time, I experienced one of several efforts to “rebirth” cocoa and revitalize its production and value addition in Nigeria, and in Africa, and I loved it.
Now, to make the most of an event like this, I often would read about or listen to the brain behind it, just to get a sense of the reason behind the event.
So there I was. At 2 AM the morning of our trip from Accra, hunched over my laptop, googling for content about HRM Oba Dokun Thompson. YouTube did its thing, and before I knew it I was watching an old(2017) 23-minute interview of the “Cocoa King“.
Talking with Keturah King about the Cocoa Festival in Eti-Oni, and the value addition of cocoa in Nigeria, the visionary expressed implicitly the goal of having a cocoa culture in Nigeria, starting from his kingdom in Enti-Oni.
Interesting.
I then checked the show’s Instagram page, and the bio read:
Build a culture & create a tradition that will add value to cocoa production at origin through continued education, awareness, leisure & fun events
A cocoa culture? A cocoa tradition?
But of course, Your Majesty! Why not?
Cocoa isn’t only farming, selling beans, and making chocolate. It affects the entire life of the people it comes into contact with. It’s a crucial part of their story, their identity, a mark they can’t do away with.
And yet, something seems missing in African Cocoa, at least in the bit I’ve discovered.
Even though we produce 70% of the world’s cocoa beans, the cash crop is yet to feel at home on the continent.
I’ll explain:
You see, when something is a crucial part of your identity, an outsider sees it in every part of your life. It just reflects in everything you do, and you can’t help it. But let’s see…
How many times have cocoa themes appeared in our movies? Where is cocoa in our music? How many novels or children’s stories are about cocoa production? How many fashion designs express our cocoa story? Does our school curriculum teach our future leaders about cocoa? Do our children aspire to become cocoa farmers?
Yes, Oloni. You’re right. We need a cocoa culture.
Do you know my most exciting moment at the Eko Chocolate Show? I saw the screening of an animated story titled The Legend of the Cocoa King!
The short movie tells a bit about how the great grandfather of King Oba Dokun Thompson brought cocoa to Eti-Oni. And In the darkness of the cinema, I couldn’t stop smiling. A simple 2D animation, but staggering was its effect on me.
Can you imagine kids in cocoa-growing Africa rushing back from school to their cartoon series on cocoa production or chocolate making? Can you imagine what could happen if our children had toys and games that featured aspects of cocoa production?
Alright, I’ll stop with the questions. Let’s get to the how.
We have events like the Eko Chocolate Show, the African Cocoa & Chocolate Expo, The Royal Eti-Oni Cocoa Festival, the National Chocolate Week, and others I’m yet to discover.
These are all powerful strides already. I’m also excited about the many chocolatiers rising across the continent. We can finally eat African chocolate.
Let’s take it further, and soon we can wear cocoa, watch cocoa, read cocoa, sing and dance to cocoa every day, paint cocoa everywhere, and act cocoa in every movie?
That sounds like a cultural overdose of cocoa.
But that, is an image of a true cocoa culture, as far as I’m concerned. And the opportunities are endless.
I’ll keep thinking about this topic. Hopefully, I’ll come back with concrete solutions. But my goal has been to inspire you to start pondering over this:
How can we make cocoa an integral part of African culture? Or, how do we make cocoa feel at home in Africa?
Thank you for reading this.
PS:
If you’d like some raw content on cocoa in Africa, consider following @africancocoastories on Instagram. It’s a work in progress. But it should be worth the wait.