ABSTRACT
The cocoa tree's natural environment is the lower story of evergreen neotropical rain forest; much cocoa is produced in hot, humid tropical rain forest areas that have little or no distinguishable dry season. Large-scale clearing of tropical forests for cocoa production reduces the habitat of thousands of plant and animal species and can irreversibly destroy the unique ecosystems. Mulching and growing other tree species within cocoa plantations, as is practiced in West African "compound" farras, helps compensate for nutrient loss. The biological control of cocoa pests should be an important component in all projects, if chemical control - with all its hazards, costs, and severe and ultimate limitations - is to be reduced to a minimum. Cocoa by-products can be utilized productively, rather than disposed of in ways that cause environmental problems. A number of African nations with comparative advantages for cocoa production rely on the crop for much of their foreign exchange.
