Even us chocolate lovers don't know much about where chocolate comes from. It comes from a plant. Can tourists help out where it is grown anywhere?
Apparently most cacao/cocoa comes from Ivory Coast and Ghana in Africa, and there are stories of child labour and even child trafficking in the industry. I'm not sure if this would make it more dangerous to participate here. Or maybe the presence of organizations working to prevent illegal child labour would make it easier for a tourist to get involved.
But besides Africa it also apparently produced in Indonesia and Malaysia in Southeast Asia and in many parts of Latin America, both Central America and South America.
I remember once buying some cocoa beans with a friend in a small indigenous market town near Oaxaca in Mexico so it must be produced in the Valles de oaxaca for instance.
I guess some kind of eco-farm or finca that takes tourists as volunteers would be the best options, but I'm open to anything, and likely to travel in any region on my future trips. It would be great to get some hands-on chocolate farming experience!
BONUS I didn't think of this at the time I asked my question, but if there's some place that does the whole process from growing cacao to making chocolate bars that would be perfect. As far as I know most cacao is grown in developing countries but made into what we know as chocolate in developed countries.