Logique des nouvelles migrations cacaoyères vers la souspréfecture de Worofla dans le nord-ouest de la Côte d’Ivoire
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Since its introduction in Côte d’Ivoire, cocoa farming has driven a process of spatial expansion closely linked to agricultural migration and the gradual expansion into new lands. This model, often described as a ‘frontier expansion’, has successively spread to the east, the centre-west and then the south-west of the country, helping to make Côte d’Ivoire the world’s leading cocoa producer. However, from the 1990s onwards, land saturation, the ageing of plantations and the proliferation of conflicts over land access in the former production basins have profoundly altered the conditions for the continuation of cocoa farming. Against this backdrop of crisis and the search for new land for cocoa farming, new waves of agricultural migration are taking place towards areas that have long remained on the margins of the major cocoa expansion; notably in the department of Séguéla in north-western Côte d’Ivoire, particularly in the sub-prefecture of Worofla. The aim of this article is to analyse the dynamics of the new wave of migration to the cocoa-growing region of the Worofla sub-prefecture. More specifically, it seeks to identify the profile of the migrants, explain the reasons behind this migration, and examine the ways in which land is accessed in this new cocoa-growing frontier in north-western Côte d’Ivoire. The methodology employed consisted of a literature review and a field survey of a sample of 267 individuals in seven villages within the sub-prefecture, to whom we administered a questionnaire. Interviews were also conducted with community leaders and local administrative authorities. This study reveals that migrants originate mainly from the former cocoa-producing regions of central-western and western Côte d’Ivoire, as well as from Burkina Faso. These new migrations were undertaken by Ivorians, particularly the Baoulé, and Burkinabés between 2011 and 2015. This movement is characterised by a search for favourable conditions for establishing cocoa farming and the pursuit of socio-economic well-being.
Source: European Scientific Journal ESJ
Language: English
Subfield: Development
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7225775019
FWCI:
Cites:
Cited by:
Related to: