This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
Cacao or cocoa trees grow in hot, rainy areas of Africa, Asia and Central and South America. Their beans are used to make cocoa powder, cocoa butter and of course chocolate.
There are five to six million growers, maybe more. Many are poor family farmers with only a few hectares.
West Africa produces more than half of all cocoa beans. Ivory Coast leads the world in production, followed by its neighbor Ghana.