Chambellan 2 (Grand Anse)

Participants:

#1 — Julien Berlin, age 32, university educated, school teacher

#2 — Marco Belizaire, 31, university (civil engineer), unemployed

#3 — Edson Florestal, 21, education: filo, unemployed

#4 – Labonte Renel, 52, university, school director

#5 – Jefferson L’Honneur, 32, university/management, DINEPA technician

#6 – Handerly Michel, 23, filo, unemployed

#7 – Luxama Jean Marc, 23, 3em sekonde, unemployed

Cocoa Production

Do you like working in the cocoa production?

#4 – Labonte Renel, 52, university, school director: Well, for me, I am older than all those guys who are here. Cocoa raised me. It put me through school. In ‘71, ‘73 Haiti, especially for us from the area I am from, Chambellan, Moron , all the way to Les Irois, – this program – cocoa and Haitian pigs gave us our education. Haitian pigs, which we don’t have anymore. But in ‘82, when they came to remove all the Haitian pigs in Haiti, it was cocoa until now that brought us to where we are. I, who am speaking to you, am the director of Lycee Chambellan. It is cocoa that gave us all here an education. With my dad, there is something called zombie. When the peasants went to buy cocoa from the outside, it’s called zombie. My father was a big zombie, His father was a speculator, his father. … We are all here because it is cocoa that raised us.

Nowadays cocoa becomes a food, a prepared food. Because if we, for example, we can go by the fire now and take 2 ,3 cocoa beans, while the fire is lit, and we put the beans under the ashes, peel them and we eat them. We can add salt and eat them. That is cooked food (this may be metaphoric because he uses the expression “prepared food” which can also mean something immediately useful. Also,this is the first reference to people actually eating cocoa, despite the fact that we asked the question directly in other focus groups. The response was also, ’we only consume it as hot chocolate drink’, like coffee)

#3 — Edson Florestal, 21, education: filo, unemployed: To follow up on what the director was saying, it’s only the cocoa that raised us. It accomplished a lot but we are missing resources around here. When you take for example Dame Marie, the people go very far, farther with cocoa then Chambellan. Chambellan is focused in one place. I can say its only one company which took in a big quantity from us. But if you have resources, there will be more than one company to take it…… at different prices.

#4 – Labonte Renel, 52, university, school director: And another difference we could have is fermentation , but here we do not have that yet. I think this is important.

#2 — Marco Belizaire, 31, university (civil engineer), unemployed: To follow what the two gentlemen said, we have other problems in cocoa. There is one buyer, he takes the cocoa. He buys it at price he wants. Today you hear it’s 25 gourdes, tomorrow morning he will say it’s 24 gourdes, and tomorrow during the day he will say it’s 15 gourdes. You don’t have a place to dry it. You are forced to sell it.

As for me, cocoa raised me. Like right now, when I am broke, I just cross the river, pick cocoa and sell it. If I can find a place to work to strengthen cocoa production, I would be very happy. At my house there is a scale that my father left for me after he died. From my children to grandchildren this scale will never be sold. It will stay as a heirloom for us all. My mother had 5 children. After my father died, it’s the scale she took and raised us all. If the cocoa has value we will be very happy, but cocoa has another thing that happened – not enough production, which means the farmers become discouraged. They don’t plant cocoa any more because the price is too low. There was a year here whenthe price of cocoa dropped extremely low. We had to cut cocoa and plant yam instead. It was really. It was recently that people had cut cocoa so much we started planting it again. Also our cocoa is so old, we need to plant more cocoa, to have more because cocoa is our wealth.

During cocoa season, how do you spend your day?

#3 — Edson Florestal, 21, education: filo, unemployed: Well, I have to tell you that cocoa is an exhausting crop. When you pick cocoa, to pick it, to gather it is very tiring. There are ants, and you need to have a lot of people with you because there are some cocoa tree plantations you have here that are very very……vast.

#2 — Marco Belizaire, 31, university (civil engineer), unemployed: Also cocoa needs cleaning. You have to clean it. Cocoa needs to be exposed, but not too exposed.That means if it’s covered all over by weeds, it won’t produce. There are many parasitescalled “Gui” which sometimes cover it, so you have to clean it often. When it’s cocoa season, during Easter and October, you’re happy because you will be making money.

During the cocoa season, is the work different or the same as your mother’s, when she was your age?

#3 — Edson Florestal, 21, education: filo, unemployed: Cocoa used to produce more in the past, because my father used to sleep in the countryside to pick cocoa, but nowadays with hurricanes and several other things that are happening in Haiti, we can say this culture is disappearing even though they are rebuilding it. But in the past cocoa used to produce; it’s different.

#4 – Labonte Renel, 52, university, school director: : And the population ….. Increases.

#4 – Labonte Renel, 52, university, school director: It becomes more difficult, you don’t see exactly, to see cocoa now it’s at a speculator’s house, but in the past when you visit a farmer’s house the pound of cocoa was 20 gourdes. It’s only at some farmers you find cocoa, It was so much. They stored it and waited for it to be ready. Now it’s only at a speculator’s house. Because they sell it for 25 gourdes, even though life becomes hard, they bring it. But in the past when you visited a farmer, if he said it rained he spent a week wasting cocoa.

#2 — Marco Belizaire, 31, university (civil engineer), unemployed : To follow what the director said, because myself in the year ‘79 I was not born yet, my mother tells a story where after one cocoa season she built a house, and then that season gave a lot of cocoa. Cocoa was selling itself. Now, even after two seasons you can’t even buy a piece of land because the price is too low. There must be benefits but the farmers are not getting them.

#1 — Julien Berlin, age 32, university educated, school teacher : Also the farmers lack the means to clean cocoa the way it needs to be done. You might arrive at a cocoa tree and find another covering it. It has a tree on top of it. It’s not deforested. In the past when you planted, you didn’t have that amount of trees covering it, but the trees covering the cocoa become so big. It’s not deforested which causes them to be cold. For the cocoa when it blooms, the flower burns. We need to work on that but because we lack the means, it can’t happen. That is preventing the cocoa to produce more than it used to.

What kind of problems do you have with cocoa? Do they suffer from any type of sicknesss?

#3 — Edson Florestal, 21, education: filo, unemployed: Yes , the sickness is lightning, if the cocoa produces fruits and during lightning storms, the cocoa gets burned.

After there are parasites , what we call “gui”. That is what is killing cocoa. And now we have ants which we called “Minustah” [after the UN occupation forces] – that’s how the farmers call them….They are so big.

#4 – Labonte Renel, 52, university, school director: We have birds that also eat cocoa. Rats also eat them.

#4 – Labonte Renel, 52, university, school director: Lizards. We have an animal that is called soud (a type of lizard).

Does soud kill the trees?

#3 — Edson Florestal, 21, education: filo, unemployed: No, the soud eats the seeds. Only gui kill the trees; if they get on it, they kill it [note that gui are parasitic plants and we suspect that something else, a disease or age is killing the tree and that offers a hospitable environment for the parasitic plants].

What is “Gui”?

#4 – Labonte Renel, 52, university, school director: Gui is a parasite. Cocoa has a lot of parasites also. If you could find everything you need to prepare the cocoa to sell, you would be making a lot of money. But during cocoa season, the amount that is prepared, you don’t really get it all. There are lizards eating it, there are rats eating it, there are lizards eating it. We need to find a way to fight against those pests, and we don’t have enough means. But during cocoa season we all will be making money, even if the money is not really enough…muffled…muffled……

Are there any other sickness that cause the roots to rot, that cause the leaves to fall, that cause the pods to turn black?

#3 — Edson Florestal, 21, education: filo, unemployed: The black pods – that’s what we are telling you is lightning. Any time you have lightning, they are not mature, they are rek. If the lightning hits them, they get steamed . But cocoa doesn’t die easily. But when the gui attacks it , the gui will take time to kill it; cocao tres last more than 100 years.

Gui takes years to kill the cocoa. It can take years for it to establish itself. Because it’s a parasite just like a tree that is called Fidye (I don’t know if you know it). And we have to tell people that cocoa in Grand Anse, is cocoa that has been here since colonial times. There has never been a campaign to plant cocoa. The cocoa has been here for a long time. You will see someone plant a little cocoa tree but there has never been a big campaign where everyone is planting cocoa . Those cocoa have been here for a long time..150,170,180 years . They don’t die easy. But when the gui attacks cocoa , it doesn’t produce. It stays on the cocoa and swallows all its sap, which prevents it from produci

Can you borrow money on the cocoa before it is ready?

#3 — Edson Florestal, 21, education: filo, unemployed: Yes, with ease. For example if I am friend with a speculator here….he knows I have cocoa.

#4 – Labonte Renel, 52, university, school director Labonte Renel : I am broke and I can tell him to give me $50. After I will give him cocoa. Same as they do with coffee. Coffee especially – they do that with coffee.

#4 – Labonte Renel, 52, university, school director Labonte Renel : Because cocoa is a “prepared food” [the expression again], when it’s picked you make money.

Can cocoa be sold like mangoes, selling the whole harvest at once?

#2 — Marco Belizaire, 31, university (civil engineer), unemployed: Yes, some people do that sometimes.

#3 — Edson Florestal, 21, education: filo, unemployed: No, they can’t do that, they cannot sell a whole harvest of cocoa. They rent a cocoa tree plantation for 3 years, for 4 years. After 4 years if they want, they renew it. They renew it, after they take their land……people will not sell it often.

#2 — Marco Belizaire, 31, university (civil engineer), unemployed:. For example, someone can have a 3-acre plot with cocoa. They are leaving for Port au Prince, or maybe he is too old and can’t take care of it anymore. He rents it.

#4 – Labonte Renel, 52, university, school director Labonte Renel : For myself, who is talking to you right now….Pause…., cocoa is one of the things we cultivate in Haiti. You see in this moment, there used to be only one cocoa season. It was rare… we had the first season, it was called Easter season, like after Easter we found 2,3 cocoa pods. Now there is a middle ground between Easter and the big season. The big season is supposed to be ready from September to October. Nowadays …. it gives fruits all the time.

#5 – Jefferson L’Honneur, 32, university/management, DINEPA technician: Never lack cocoa.

#3 — Edson Florestal, 21, education: filo, unemployed: Now it’s the easter one – the biggest. Until right now we are still getting cocoa. If we go to that gentleman’s house we will find cocoa. Well i don’t know if it’s God who did that for Haiti, if it was for those small cocoa pods. There is not coffee in Haiti anymore. Coffee is in a situation right now where the roots dried out. It doesn’t give fruit anymore. But us here, we have cocoa trees that are more than 100 years old.

When my grandmother died at 102 years in 1993 she left cocoa trees. Those cocoa trees are still here and she found them already planted. Well, what you see from what the gentleman there just said, it’s the parasites that are preventing Haiti form producing real cocoa, and we are discouraged. Imagine if a pound of cocoa is selling for 25 gourdes here. Well, if it’s being sold for 25 gourdes and nine people buy it at the same price……..the price will never go up.

#3 — Edson Florestal, 21, education: filo, unemployed: You need to let them know that they never buy a pound of cocoa for 1 American dollar from us.

What do you find the most difficult(challenging) in cocoa production?

#3 — Edson Florestal, 21, education: filo, unemployed: Well, most difficult for me in cocoa…. as I told you before there are cocoa trees which when my grandmother who died at 102 years, she left for us. The cocoa trees are still here but you already know it won’t give you the same quantity like it used to. Those cocoa trees- in Creole we say they are rek, (decrepit). It needed pruning, but to have pruning done in 3 acres of land…pruning is removing old branches, branches that had been here for a long time. There is what you call “gui” a parasite…. .it’s a cleaning in itself. What it produces doesn’t give you enough money to clean it. Cleaning is the most difficult part for us. The advantage we get is not enough to have them cleaned. Imagine, a cocoa is rek like that, is a lot, the land is a lot, and it costs you for that. Now, suppose during the season you make 3 sacks of cocoa, they buy it from you in a bad condition. People who will be selling you sori, a single sori is 50gourdes ……Sori is a farmer konbit….people who will work for you.

#4 – Labonte Renel, 52, university, school director: Right now, when the worker sells the sori, he won’t stay for three hours working for you. For him to cut a cocoa branch- cutting the branch and putting it aside lasts one hour. That means you are not able to pay for enough work to even to regenerate the cocoa, and that is one of the most durable plants in Haiti.

#5 – Jefferson L’Honneur, 32, university/management, DINEPA technician –The advantage we have, around here is that we do not need fertilizer when we plant cocoa; it takes root. In some places you need fertilizer for the cocoa to grow . Here, we do not need that, we only need to have it cleaned.

#2 — Marco Belizaire, 31, university (civil engineer), unemployed: Almost everything within the cocoa is difficult, from beginning to the end. Because after picking the cocoa, breaking it….and when you have to carry the cocoa, it has syrup. Its very very heavy. You can’t carry it by yourself, you need someone with you……you should have an animal.

#4 – Labonte Renel, 52, university, school director: To pay people to carry the cocoa down, then to find a place to put it out to dry.

Are you saying to carry the cocoa is difficult?

#3 — Edson Florestal, 21, education: filo, unemployed : It’s difficult because there is a lot of syrup falling on the person. Sometimes the person needs to have something to cover themselves with.

#2 — Marco Belizaire, 31, university (civil engineer), unemployed: Taking the cocoa from the bitasyon (small plantation) where it is very difficult. Picking the cocoa; ants are in the cocoa. To break the cocoa is a very hard job. When removing it from its pod, your fingers can be cut and you don’t have any other options – you have to use your fingers. And the second factor is there is a problem to dry the cocoa. That is difficult. There is no place to dry the cocoa; you can’t find the appropriate place. Especially here in Chambellan, it’s a rainy area; there is a lot of rain. I can say in Chambellan, from May to December it rains every day……..The other day I had 30 sacks of cocoa that got wet on me.

#3 — Edson Florestal, 21, education: fio, unemployed : The cocoa gets spoiled if you can’t find a place to dry it. You can come looking for cocoa here, it’s already spoiled, and they take it from you at a bad price.

What is easiest in the cocoa production?

#3 — Edson Florestal, 21, education: filo, unemployed : It would be encouragement…when the cocoa produces fruits… take good care of it.

#2 — Marco Belizaire, 31, university (civil engineer), unemployed: It needs to have a good price

#4 – Labonte Renel, 52, university, school director: No, it’s the cocoa season.

#1 — Julien Berlin, age 32, university educated, school teacher: Money and taking good care of it.

#4 – Labonte Renel, 52, university, school director: The most difficult thing is getting dry….Ahhh yes.

#2 — Marco Belizaire, 31, university (civil engineer), unemployed: Getting the cocoa dry is a misery, you buy the cocoa and spend a whole day, and again the next day you need to put it out to dry. You could buy 200 sacks of cocoa, and you have to dry it.

#3 — Edson Florestal, 21, education: filo, unemployed: Those are the people buying it. They are talking about people who own it at their house. That’s the reason that they don’t take care of it…. From the farmer’s house if the cocoa was exploited well, valued it, the speculators would not need to have it dry. It would be dry. But it’s the way they bought it; how it’s taken from the farmers. They brought it like that. But if there was a structure, like we have this wealth; this wealth – ,they box it, they come to sell it, and you bought it. But the way they take it, a zombitakes it the zombi goes and sells it on the scale. The speculator takes it to the exporter. When it first comes to Wiener’s house, they dry it. There’s reject, but if they did, if they give it good care the reject was outside. Since it was in the peasant’s house, if the reject was sorted out The cocoa will arrive quick where it has to go to for feeding. Because we know that cocoa nowadays is a worldwide food…as I just told you, if I take two seeds of cocoa and put it under the ashes; dry it. I peel it like a peanut. I eat it. I will still taste the bitter taste but I will eat it anyway.’’

#4 – Labonte Renel, 52, university, school director: what’s most weird in the cocoa, it’s when we don’t know who fixed the price of the cocoa. It’s the problem. Today you come and you hear 25 gourdes; the next day you hear 20 gourdes. You don’t know what reason. The Haitian government doesn’t help us with this.

#1 — Julien Berlin, age 32, university educated, school teacher: we have to know the reason. Cocoa could be good quality, bad quality – but they give you the same price, You don’t know what reason is, Today it could be this price and tomorrow that price. You don’t know what office fixed the price of the cocoa. That’s the problem.

#1 — Julien Berlin, age 32, university educated, school teacher: When you see the cocoa for 25 gourdes, it’s because there is another person here. It’s the field time, that… there is no profit in it(silence).

#4 – Labonte Renel, 52, university, school director: The only thing that I know is when a business doesn’t have competition it will not work. We need other people buying,

#2 — Marco Belizaire, 31, university (civil engineer), unemployed: What’s also a problem is the biggest Haitian production is cocoa.

#2 — Marco Belizaire, 31, university (civil engineer), unemployed: Especially Grand Anse – it’s not another thing you can hear people talking about, yam, about this, about that. It’s cocoa. If the government wants to take charge saying that they will produce in the country, they could do that because with only cocoa we produce chocolate, we make candies. We make liquor with it.”

#3 — Edson Florestal, 21, education: filo, unemployed : Edson Florestal we produce “kremas” with it.__

#1 — Julien Berlin, age 32, university educated, school teacher: They make cocktails with it. They make perfume with it. It’s a plant; how can I say that, It has grease. There is cocoa oil. Then if they want to do a transformation you can do that.

Explain the cocoa production process.

#3 — Edson Florestal, 21, education: filo, unemployed : You make plants with the seeds. But, we in Haiti, we use the pods. We don’t take the pods on the ground; we take the pods on the body of the tree. It is with it we make seeds, and if we go over here, we can go and see a tree nursery in the national school… pods on the body of the tree. It’s the one guarantee for us. With it we make seeds. We take a plastic bag, we make fertilizer, we make compost. Then we put it in a black plastic bag. Then we make it grow. We make that while it’s all green.

But the peasant doesn’t do that. What the peasant does, he searches cool places in the garden, in the earth. He lifts a piece of cocoa; he plants it in the back of a banana tree. He plants it in the back of a tree that has died, then, miraculously, this cocoa tree is created.

#2 — Marco Belizaire, 31, university (civil engineer), unemployed : There are some cocoa trees that grow by themselves. Seeds that rats ate sometimes grow by themselves. They replace the old cocoa trees. When we talk about a tree nursery, that’s the way they do it. They make compost; earth prepared with fertilizer. They put it in a plastic bag then they put a seed of cocoa that came from the body of the tree and they transplant it in the plastic bag. After 3 or 4 weeks it grows. When it grows, now it gives birth to a plant and then they bring it to a place where they can plant it.

How many pods of Criollo vs Trinitario make a mamit?

#4 – Labonte Renel, 52, university, school director Labonte Renel: 40 pods is one mamit. The criollo is better, is thicker. The foreign cocoa is bigger; it’s the pod that is bigger but inside it’s not really big. Trinitario is not good. In contrast natural cocoa, ours, is thicker. Other foreign cocoa trees are bigger but not fuller.

#3 — Edson Florestal, 21, education: filo, unemployed: The difference is in the pods. The foreign pod is very big, but ours is denser, it does not have much oil. Our pods are smaller but it has more seeds inside.

#1 — Julien Berlin, age 32, university educated, school teacher:: It makes good chocolate.

How many pods from Trinitario make a mamit?

#4 – Labonte Renel, 52, university, school director Labonte Renel: Well, that I don’t know. Try looking at it.

#5 – Jefferson L’Honneur, 32, university/management, DINEPA technician: Ours, if you have 40 pods will make 1 mamit and 2 gode. Because the seeds are big, it has a lot of oil.

#3 — Edson Florestal, 21, education: filo, unemployed: Our chocolate is good.

Cooperative impact

repeated from above for reference:

#3 — Edson Florestal, 21, education: filo, unemployed: To follow what the director was saying, [respondent #4 in first response] it’s only the cocoa that raised us. It accomplished a lot but we are missing resources around here. When you take for example Dame Marie, the people go very far, farther with cocoa then Chambellan. Chambellan is focused in one place. I can say its only one company which took in a big quantity from us. But if you have resources, there will be more than one company to take it…… at different prices.

#4 – Labonte Renel, 52, university, school director Labonte Renel: And another difference we could have is fermentation , but here we do not have that yet. I think this is important.

#2 — Marco Belizaire, 31, university (civil engineer), unemployed Marco Belizaire: To follow what the two gentlemen said, we have other problems in cocoa. There is one buyer, he takes the cocoa. He buys it at price he wants. Today you heard it’s 25 gourdes, tomorrow morning he will say it’s 24 gourdes, and tomorrow during the day he will say it’s 15 gourdes. You don’t have a place to dry it. You are forced to sell it.

END duplicated passage

You said they, who are they?

All: People who are buying from us…..The buyers.

#3 — Edson Florestal, 21, education: filo, unemployed: There is only one buyer in the market.

#2 — Marco Belizaire, 31, university (civil engineer): There is only one person in the market. For example , when there are people buying, we compete for it. It works better. But when it’s only one person buying the cocoa, it doesn’t have a price, and he does whatever he wants.

#3 — Edson Florestal, 21, education: filo, unemployed: He comes and gives you what he wants. The farmers’ harvests do not have value in Haiti.

You said there is only one person buying the cocoa?

All: Yes, one person, one company.

#2 — Marco Belizaire, 31, university (civil engineer), unemployed Marco Belizaire: Yes, Maison Weiner ‘

#5 – Jefferson L’Honneur, 32, university/management, DINEPA technician – Jefferson L’Honneur, 32, university/management, DINEPA technician: Maison Weiner, that’s the one implanted in the Grand Anse.

#3 — Edson Florestal, 21, education: filo, unemployed: He does whatever he wants.

#2 — Marco Belizaire, 31, university (civil engineer), unemployed : For me, there is what I would like to say again: the wealth of cocoa is abroad. Why is it only Maison Weiner that can buy cocoa for abroad? The foreigners need cocoa, other countries need it, why can’t someone else have the means Maison Weiner has to buy? That’s the question I would like to ask.

The price you sell cocoa is 25 gourdes per pound?

#3 — Edson Florestal, 21, education: filo, unemployed: Yes, 25 gourdes. No matter what.

#4 – Labonte Renel, 52, university, school director: Whether green, whether dry, it’s the same price for cocoa. I don’t know if Mr. Ernst probably can show you. Well, I think we know already if we are talking about him. We know him…. It’s in Grand Anse and in Thiotte. Thiotte is coffee. Thiotte has places that produce a lot of cocoa.

#5 – Jefferson L’Honneur, 32, university/management, DINEPA technician – Jefferson L’Honneur, 32, university/management, DINEPA technician: In Cap Haitian, in the north

#1 — Julien Berlin, age 32, university educated, school teacher : When we are talking about Dame Marie that gives cocoa, it’s not Dame Marie that really gives cocoa, because it is this area that sells cocoa at Dame Marie. Chambellan, here, it’s the place that gives a lot of cocoa. You find Abricot, which gives a lot of cocoa and it’s natural cocoa. It is not the foreign cocoa, it is the real Haitian cocoa, good cocoa, natural, that produces the good oil.

Cooperatives, gender roles in cooperatives

Are there any people here who are in the cooperatives?

#4 – Labonte Renel, 52, university, school director Labonte Renel: No one here is in a cooperative. We have an association that is called FARHE, it’s related to our own group we call a Soladarite. We have had this project for a long time. We will reforest Haiti. We have a Tree nursery here in Chambellan.

Have you ever heard of cooperatives; do you know what is it?

#3 — Edson Floresal, 21, education: filo, unemployed: We heard about it, but we are in an association. We are responsible for it. It’s called FARHE. We have a relationship with them in the United States. But we have an association called Solidarite. We have this program to reforest this area for 5 or 6 years. A program every year…. we have a tree nursery down there. If you pass down there, we can show you a tree nursery that we prepared. It has Cocoa, Cedar , there are Mahogany trees – all that. We are waiting on the contrary during these months. After the 15^th of this month we are supposed to start planting trees. It has mango. It has djaca….trees that produce fruits.

Would you like to be part of a cooperative?

Public: Yes, if they don’t steal from us.

#3 — Edson Florestal, 21, education: filo, unemployed: I agree with cooperatives. The reason I agree is –I am taking the example of Dame Marie. I won’t say Chamballan–that cocoa is a readied food. No, it is not readied food for us but in Dame Marie it is a readied food. People just pick cocoa, then go sell it. He go to sell cocoa, can start cooking food, sell the cocoa and knows he will buy fish. The money is already in his hand.

But with someone who breaks cocoa, it will take a week before it dries for him to sell it to speculators. It’s impossible or maybe difficult for the people living in the countryside.

I think the presence of a cooperative in Chambellan would be very good for us, especially in the case of fermentation. That one. You buy the cocoa green from someone who just picked it. Its important for us.

Regarding cooperatives, I won’t answer 100% if I am a member of one. I don’t buy but my father does and sells to a cooperative. The name of the cooperative is KOPKOD. It’s Daniel Michel who is in charge of it. He is here quietly.

#2 — Marco Belizaire, 31, university (civil engineer), unemployed: They don’t get benefits.

#1 — Julien Berlin, age 32, university educated, school teacher: I asked them how to become a member, and they never give me an answer. I think it will work, yes. But there is only a small group of people in it. They don’t open the door for others to come in.

#4 – Labonte Renel, 52, university, school director Labonte Renel: It has been here for a long time, but it stopped.

Do you think people who are part of a cooperative get more advantages than you?

Public: No, I don’t think that. No.

#3 — Edson Florestal, 21, education: filo, unemployed :. People in the cooperative have advantages. There was something called “ristoun” a long time ago. When you sell the cocoa at a cooperative they take your name. When you sell more than once, after sending it abroad or wherever they send it, the person gets a bonus. That’s what I knew a long time ago.

#2 — Marco Belizaire, 31, university (civil engineer), unemployed Marco Belizaire : I don’t think that’s a bonus. If you do the math, cocoa is being sold $5 per wash basin , to dry. If they had bought $6 from you, instead you sell at $5 ….muflle muflle…..Because the price they give you when you dry it, it has oil. It does respond even if the next day you get a bonus per pound, that’s nothing.

#3 — Edson Florestal, 21, education: filo, unemployed: That’t what I was explaining, yes. When you dry it , sort it, sell it at the cooperative, that’s what they say. They said they are selling it . The bonus is shared among everyone who helped with the preparation.

2 — Marco Belizaire, 31, university (civil engineer), unemployed: There are people in it who complain they don’t get a ristoun. I don’t know if another one will come to replace it, that is coming with something new that perhaps can encourage us, but if there is not change I don’t believe there are advantages.

Gender roles in cocoa production

What is the difference between men and women as producers?

#3 — Edson Florestal, 21, education: filo, unemployed: Well, in the production, the women cannot do more business than the men. But the women cannot produce more than the men because production here is done with strength, in difficult situations ……with hands

#4 – Labonte Renel, 52, university, school director: The women cannot do it. The women can do business. Imagine, lets take the cast of the left overs of cocoa they made chocolate out of it.

Because farm work in Haiti is not a work that is mechanized . There are no tools. You hold the end of a machete to throw it; it’s a pick you swing to pull it. A woman can’t do that.

#3 — Edson Florestal, 21, education: filo, unemployed: If we go to Balirenne now, that’s where they produce a lot of chocolate, you will find more women that do that.

Is there anything in the cocoa production that a man can do but a woman cannot?

#2 — Marco Belizaire, 31, university (civil engineer), unemployed MarcoBelizaire: Mostly the picking, women cannot do the picking. She can’t clean the trees in it. She cannot clean it; cocoa trees are tall. She cannot swing a machete. The women will not find a pod of cocoa on the ground often, she might be able to pick it but sometimes you have to climb the tree with a pole to pick them. If a pod fell on the ground, the woman can pick it; she can carry it away …….muffle muffle…The woman can make cocoa and chocolate. The woman can take the cocoa and dry it.

What is the role of the men in the cocoa production?

#3 — Edson Florestal, 21, education: filo, unemployed: We are the motor; we are the one who plants. It’s us who followed it in the garden. Because a tree in a farm, it’s a man who has to follow it. The same way you are raising a child, that is how a tree is,yes. It has vines that climb on it. The vines needs to be cut out in order for the tree to spread out.

Who sells the cocoa, it is men or women ?

Public: All of them sell cocoa: children, old people whatever the person. If it’s ready, everybody can make money.

#3 — Edson Florestal, 21, education: filo, unemployed: Some call distingo, where all pods that are damaged are for children. Those the rats have been chewing on the pod are for children. Good pods are for mother and father; seeds on the floor for children.

If we take 10 sellers, will we find 5 women and 5 men who are sellers?

#2 — Marco Belizaire, 31, university (civil engineer), unemployed : Yes, easily.

#3 — Edson Florestal, 21, education: filo, unemployed: If only you can be here on a Thursday to see the amount of children who are going to the market. Even though the child has a little quantity of cocoa, he brings it.

#1 — Julien Berlin, age 32, university educated, school teacher: Even if you are at my scale, I will sit over there. You will see how many children who will come to sell me cocoa. They have freedom to do it, and it’s the only tree that they don’t cut down in Haiti.

Are the zombies more women or more men; what about the speculators?

The Public: More men are zombies. Speculators are men. 8 out of 10 zombies are men.

#6 – Handerly Michel, 23, filo, unemployed Michel Handerly: 90% men.

#2 — Marco Belizaire, 31, university (civil engineer), unemployed Marco Belizaire: 7 out of 10 are men. When you look at the women from Pay, the women from Gran Plaine, there are many.

#7 – Luxama Jean Marc, 23, 3em sekonde, unemployed: I can’t give a number.

#3 — Edson Florestal, 21, education: filo, unemployed: The women from Gran Fon don’t come to sell anymore.

#5 – Jefferson L’Honneur, 32, university/management, DINEPA technician: If we take 10 zombi we will find 7 are men because cocoa is something that is heavy.

#4 – Labonte Renel, 52, university, school director: The And the roads are bad. Well only men travel throughout them and they use mules.

#6 – Handerly Michel, 23, filo, unemployed: The roads are some times very difficult.

#2 — Marco Belizaire, 31, university (civil engineer), unemployed Marco Belizaire: Sometimes the man carries a bag on his head. Women can’t carry a sack of cocoa on her head.

Who makes decisions in the family?

(the following also posted under “family role in cocoa production” below)

#3 — Edson Florestal, 21, education: filo, unemployed: Everyone. Sometimes the man’s role is to pick cocoa. The woman what does she do? The man finds a technician who does everything. On the day of harvesting cocoa, when the cocoa is ripe the wife comes along , the kids come along. What is the role of the father? He picks the cocoa and lets it fall on the ground and the woman and kids gather them. Farther, in the processing, he grinds it. After that depends on their agreements. Because the cocoa needs understanding when they finish with selling it. The man might say I owe the workers this amount; give me this amount to pay them. It’s the same thing. School is about to be open – it’s the cocoa that will send the children to school. When the father brings the money after selling , he will, say, leave $200 for the workers.

In this case, its normal for the man to take charge, but while he controls, the money goes to the woman. Because its heavy, the woman can’t carry it. The man has to carry it, either he takes a horse or a muleor carry it on his head , it is the man who carries the cocoa for selling.

The family’s role in cocoa production

Who makes decisions in the family?

Chambellan 2 (Grand Anse)

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