PERTINENCE OF SOCIAL CAPITAL IN THE ENHANCEMENT OF COCOA PRODUCTION IN SANTCHOU, CAMEROON

The importance of social capital is another new stylized fact in promoting agriculture. The study has as objective to examine the impact of social capital in the enhancement of cocoa production and to determine the challenges faced by cocoa producers in Santchou. Methodologically, we have constructed a social capital index through the application of Multiple Correspondence Analyses using primary data collected within the Santchou cocoa zone and the probit model is used for regression estimates. The result revealed a strong correlation between social capital and cocoa production, while the level of education, sex, marital status, financial status, experience in faming, household size and agricultural training are strongly corroborating with the determinants of social capital. In addition, farm size, level of education, application of farm inputs (pesticides and fertilizers), modern equipment, climate change, access to credit and land tenure system were observed to be the major challenges faced by cocoa farmers in Santchou. We suggest that cocoa farmer’s social network should be improved to enable them easily get assistant when necessary.