One of the bonuses of tagging alongside the area humanitarian specialists is seeing parts of West Africa we would otherwise not experience. In a small Ashanti village in the Swedru district west of Accra, we were able to observe how the villagers grow, ferment, and dry cocoa beans before they are taken to a facility to be made into cocoa powder.
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| The seeds are piled up and covered to ferment for three days before being spread out to dry. | Dark, bitter cocoa solids are inside the seeds. This is where cocoa powder and cocoa butter come from. |
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| Cocoa pods are deep yellow when ready to harvest. They grow on the trunk of the tree, not on branches. Up to 150 pods can grow on one tree. | Cacao trees are shaded by plantain trees, taking 3 years to fully mature. They grow in a geographical zone of 20 degrees north or south of the equator. |
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| The cocoa pod has a leathery rind about 3 cm thick and is filled with sweet pulp enclosing 30-50 seeds. | Cocoa harvest is year round. Ghana and Ivory Coast produce more than 1/2 of the world's cocoa. |
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| Coconuts are also plentiful in this little village. | The skill in cleaning and preparation is amazing. |
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| A delicious refreshment at the end of our visit. |
