Introduction to cocoa farming in Cameroon

The introduction of the cocoa tree in Africa is relatively recent. It took place in two main stages: a first single wave of introduction in Central and West Africa and then a second successive wave of introduction in Cameroon. After the 1950s material resulting from crosses between high Amazonian (UA) cocoa trees was disseminated throughout the world particularly in Africa through research institutes.Cocoa farming is a very old activity since the cocoa tree was cultivated by the Maya in Central America and Mexico well before the discovery of the New World by the Spanish in 1502.In Cameroon the cocoa orchard covers an area of about 400000 ha. Cocoa is cultivated by about 260000 small farmers and provides a living for more than one million people in the forest zone. The average yield of Cameroonian plantations is low at around 300 kg/ha whereas it can reach 2000 kg/ha when cocoa is grown under optimal conditions.