Tag: africa - the central continent

'The Ivory Coast supplies 30 percent of the world’s total cocoa, leading the rest of the world by over half a million metric tons with a total crop of 1,448,992 tonnes. Companies like Nestle and Cadbury receive much of their cocoa from the Ivory Coast and Cocoa alone is responsible for almost two-thirds of the trade revenue coming into the nation.'

Masai Mara National Reserve (also known as Maasai Mara, Masai Mara and by the local people as The Mara) is a large game reserve in Narok County.

Kruger National Wetland Park is a huge protected area along the coast of South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal Province. The park’s centrepiece is the vast Lake St. Lucia, home to large numbers of hippos, crocodiles, pelicans and flamingos. Elephants, giraffes and leopards inhabit the grasslands and forests of the nearby Western Shores and Charters Creek areas. To the north, Sodwana Bay is known for its colourful coral reefs.

Most of the world's cocoa is grown in a narrow belt 10 degrees either side of the Equator because cocoa trees grow well in humid tropical climates with regular rains and a short dry season.

Cocoa requires deep (porous soil) and well drained soils. Poorly drained soil affects growth of plants. Majority of area under Cocoa cultivation is on clay loam and sandy loam soil. It grows well in the pH range of 6.5 to 7.0.

Cocoa can be grown up to 300 m above mean sea level. It requires a minimum of 90-100 mm rainfall per month with an annual rainfall of 1500-2000 mm. The plants need equitable climate with well distributed rainfall.

It was also introduced into the rest of Asia and into West Africa by Europeans. In the Gold Coast, modern Ghana, cacao was introduced by a Ghanaian, Tetteh Quarshie.