Joao Lopez Tavez, 31 who works at the Roca Boa Vista sorting and raking cocoa beans, Sao Tome. The cacao plant was taken from Brazil to Principe and Sao Tomé for the first time around 1822 and by 1908, Sao Tome had become the world’s largest producer of cacao. Today, it is no longer the largest, but produces some of the world's finest quality cacao..Sao Tome and Principe, are two islands of volcanic origin lying off the coast of Africa. Settled by Portuguese convicts in the late 1400s and later a centre for slaving, their independence movement culminated in a peaceful transition to self government from Portugal in 1975..(photo by Stuart Freedman/In Pictures via Getty Images)