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Cacao Farming

Sun Plantations
On sun plantations, farmers often plant only cacao. The practice of planting a single crop is called “monocropping.”

Often the cacao is shaded until it’s mature enough to flower. Then the farmers remove the shade trees and expose the cacao to the sun’s full strength.

Extra sun affects cacao production.
Cacao grown in full sun produces a greater yield than cacao grown under a shade canopy, but for a shorther period of time. Within 10 years or so most cacao trees grown in full sun will stop producing pods altogether.

Sun plantations affect both tree health and farmer income.
Growing cacao on open sun plantations requires removing it from its rainforest habitat. Sun-plantation farming can result in both ecological and financial losses including:

	Pollinators: Midges, cacao’s rainforest pollinators, breed in the leaf litter on the rainforest floor and are less common in sunny, monocropped fields.
	Natural pesticides and predators: Cacao trees on plantations are prone to pests and diseases. In the rainforest, a variety of plants, mammals, and insects provide a complex but natural system of pest management. This system disappears when cacao is taken out of its niche and grown in large numbers.
	Income: To protect crops and keep cacao production high, many growers must rely on expensive chemical pesticides and fertilizers. In addition, farmers who practice monocropping and grow only cacao have no backup source of income if their crops are damaged by pests and diseases. And if the price of chocolate falls, farmers can suffer severe financial setbacks.

Continue to Sustainable Farms

Ivory Coast (a country in West Africa) produces roughly 40% of the world’s supply of cacao. Two thirds of this cacao is grown on sun plantations.

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