Dr Michael Odijie awarded AHRC funding for research into unfree labour in Africa’s cocoa belt
Dr Michael Odijie
A major new research project led by Associate Professor in African History and African Studies Michael Odijie has received nearly £737,000 in funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).
Unfree Labour and Local Resistance in Africa’s Cocoa Belt, 1890–1990 will investigate the relationship between the expansion of commercial cocoa production and forms of unfree and coercive labour across Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria and Cameroon.
The three-year project, which begins in autumn 2026, will examine how these labour systems developed over a century of cocoa production and, crucially, how African workers and communities responded to them. Rather than treating workers simply as victims of exploitative labour systems, the research will explore the different ways in which people resisted, negotiated and sought to reshape the conditions under which they worked.
By bringing together histories from four major cocoa-producing countries, the project will build a broader picture of how labour and cocoa production developed across Africa’s cocoa belt between 1890 and 1990. It will also consider what these histories can contribute to understanding contemporary concerns about labour exploitation in cocoa production. Use an appropriate landscape image at the top of the page.
Dr Michael Odijie, Asssociate Professor in African History and African Studies and Principa Investigator on the project“Many of the debates we are having today about labour exploitation in cocoa production have much deeper historical roots than is often recognised. This project will examine how different forms of unfree and coercive labour developed alongside the expansion of cocoa production, and how African workers and communities resisted, negotiated and sought to reshape the conditions under which they worked. Understanding that history is important for thinking more carefully about contemporary efforts to address labour exploitation across Africa’s cocoa sector.”
The project will be co-led by Dr Mark Hirons, with David Damtar joining the research team as a postdoctoral researcher. Anti-Slavery International will participate as a project partner, helping to connect the project’s historical research with wider conversations around labour exploitation.
Funded through an AHRC Standard Research Grant, Unfree Labour and Local Resistance in Africa’s Cocoa Belt, 1890–1990 will run for three years from autumn 2026.
