Cocoa a bittersweet cash crop for Madagascar

Ambanja, Madagascar

A MASSIVE zebu cow lumbered out of the tropical forest in Ambanja in the north of Madagascar carrying a heavy cartful of cocoa pods destined to become some of the most expensive chocolate in the world.

"These red ones here, they're of the Criollo variety, the most sought-after cocoa in the world," said Cyrille Ambarahova, a local small-scale farmer.

Standing in the middle of his single hecta…