After being splashed by a car, Abena receives a small box as an apology. This package in the colors of Switzerland contains something unusual and deeply common: chocolate. Abéna, who has been planting and harvesting cocoa beans since a very young age, is then transformed. How can bondage become so exhilarating?
This dichotomy between the hard work in the cocoa plantations and the gourmet pleasure of chocolate is the starting point of the recent book by Samy Manga Chocolatey. The bitter taste of cocoa cultivation, an autofiction drawn from the equatorial forests of his childhood under the dictatorship of the bosses of green gold. In interview with The dutythe Cameroonian author, poet and activist, relates: “My encounter with chocolate [au tournant des années 2000] woke me up. It shocked me, and everything else opened up; I started to see the environmental damage, the chemicals used, the impact on people’s health. I made the connection between what I had experienced on the plantations and the industry which bases its wealth on production. You know, a kilo of cocoa takes weeks to prepare. And in Switzerland alone, each person consumes 11 kilos of chocolate per year. »
To illustrate this reality that is lived in small African villages, we follow his alter ego, Abéna, who works with his grandfather in the cocoa plantations near the city of Yaoundé, in Cameroon. Brave and awake, he becomes aware of the poverty of producers, neocolonial power relations and slavery, including the forced labor of children who will never know what chocolate is. He also discerns pesticide poisoning and the consequences of this monoculture on biodiversity. Dismayed and determined to dedicate his life to knowledge, Abéna manages somehow to leave the plantations to make it his thesis subject at the university.
By his pen which transforms revolt into homage to ancestors, where the duty of memory serves to inform, Samy Manga wants to raise awareness through his story. “In my opinion, this is the primary mission of a writer. Stop pretending we don’t know what’s going on. Here’s what’s happening on the cocoa plantations. Do we find this to be normal in terms of the environment, human dignity, productivity and capitalism? Once you are aware, you have to find solutions […] This book is a bit like the voice of the children of the village, and my childhood is the driving force behind my ecological approach. »
Eating chocolate with your eyes closed
Chocolate is not native to Africa, but to Ancient Mexico. Its culture was imported by the French in order to ensure a stranglehold on the colonies. These facts, according to Mr. Manga, demonstrate the two servitudes at the heart of the book; that of the planters and that of the consumer. Very few people know about the authority of multinational corporations, while some companies dangle allegedly responsible chocolate to clear customers. It was therefore essential for the author to give as much data as possible. “There are people who have read my book and say to me: “Samy, you are exaggerating!” But that’s what happens for real. Many consumers are unaware of everything behind chocolate. At the limit, we should have labels “balanced chocolate without slavery!” »
I made the connection between what I had experienced on the plantations and the industry which bases its wealth on the production
Samy Manga does not claim to want to eliminate chocolate, which is a “part of our global food heritage, like wheat, rice, beans”. On the other hand, he believes that once we are aware of the serious problems, particularly for the environment, it is essential to regulate the industry, to produce less, to preserve virgin lands and to avoid harming the biodiversity.
For his part, because he believes that the truth is not hidden, he will continue to bring chocolate to the village each time he returns there. To ensure that the gourmet pleasure derived from the cocoa that germinates on their land reaches the plates of those who grow it.