Cameroon: Cocoa plantations grapple with black pod disease

Cameroon's southwest region, one of the country's top cocoa belts, is grappling with black pod disease that is ravaging its cocoa plantations.

A fungal disease, brown rot, or black pod disease, ravages cocoa pods and trees and can thrive in wet conditions. With Cameroon having been struck by weeks of heavy rain, the disease has managed to spread significantly.

Downpours have been intense since July, creating the prime conditions for the disease and exacerbating the outbreak in several cocoa producing hubs including Muyuka, Mbonge and Kumba.

A surge in counterfeit agrochemicals has also worsened the situation, according to officials and industry experts.

Many growers are counting on low cost, unverified fungicides smuggled from Ghana and Nigeria, officials say.

Cocoa consultant Epie Promise Ngolepie says, "smallholder farmers don't want to follow expert advice because they think they know better".