ABSTRACT
Cocoa, Theobroma cacao L., originated in South America and is now cultivated in West Africa (mainly Côte D’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon), South America (including Brazil and Ecuador) and Asia (mainly Indonesia and Malaysia). Up to 90 per cent of the world’s cocoa is produced by smallholder farmers, each cultivating less than three hectares, with the remainder grown on large farms, mainly in Asia and Brazil. Some smallholder farmers cultivate their cocoa trees within the natural forest, but more often in agro-forestry zones where selected forest trees provide shade. In other systems, specially planted tall trees and herbaceous food crops, such as plantain and banana, are used as shade. In Côte D’Ivoire, cocoa is grown without shade and, although this provides increased yields in the short-term, it requires higher levels of inputs because of increased weed and pest problems (Anon, 2001).
