The Cocoa Trail is a delightful journey of discovery that can be accomplished as a day trip from Ghana's capital, Accra. Its unlikely beginning is at the Tetteh Quarshie roundabout, where a monument stands to the Ghanaian blacksmith who once worked on the tiny Spanish island of Fernando Po in the Bight of Benin. Hernan Cortes had brought the Aztec recipe for xocoatl (chocolate drink) to Spain in 1528, and plantations in the Caribbean and Fernando Po gave the country a virtual monopoly on cocoa until Tetteh Quarshie returned to Ghana in 1878.

He smuggled home a few cocoa seedlings from the Spanish plantations and planted them on the family farm at Mampong. From this simple beginning, Ghana was destined to become the world's largest supplier of cocoa beans from 1910 until 1980. As a British colony, it was only natural that Ghana should supply cocoa to England. With the introduction of the market-leading Dairy Milk brand in 1905, demand soon consumed all the cocoa Ghana could deliver. By 1980, poor prices had reduced production and Cote d'Ivoire took over as the world's largest producer. But as cocoa is still Ghana's major export and the country's largest source of foreign exchange, Tetteh Quarshie remains the national hero.

From Accra, the cocoa route heads north. Beyond the city of Koforidua is the Tafo Cocoa Research Institute, where friendly staff go out of their way to accommodate visitors. A colonial aura hangs over the complex of buildings that grace beautifully manicured grounds. It is quickly apparent just how much effort goes into maintaining vital cocoa yields. The station houses a range of laboratories, experimental farms and nurseries, where the focus is on basic plant science - with special attention to cocoa as a small-farm crop.

The cocoa plants are low trees of the genus Theobroma cacao L., with fruit pods 20-30cm long (right), which are yellow or red in colour when mature. They contain a mildly sweet white pulp and many flat seeds, oil from which is used in cosmetics and perfume. The pulp is the source of chocolate and cocoa butter. There are 22 varieties of cocoa, categorized by the colour and shape of pods and their chemical makeup.

Tafo has developed a hybrid that yields two crops after just three years - an important breakthrough since cocoa normally produces a single crop in five years. Other studies aim to identify new diseases and insects that can harm the plants, and research is carried out into remedial steps to prevent any bio-crisis that could threaten the industry. A guide escorts you through laboratories, introduces you to scientists and explains the different species around the property.

Leaving Tafo, follow the road back towards Accra to the town of Aburi. The Aburi Botanical Gardens harbour a rich collection of tropical plants that attracts scores of birds and butterflies - the ideal spot for lunch before continuing a few miles to Akwapim-Mampong. Here, Tetteh Quarshie planted his first cocoa trees in 1878. Five years later, the small farm at Mampong produced its first 80lbs of cocoa - a yield that by 1936 would multiply to 250,000 tons.

Tetteh Quarshie's experiment was destined to play a big role in Ghana's future, empowering small farmers throughout the Eastern, Ashanti and Brong Ahofo Regions and creating the backbone of Ghana's principal export. In honour of Quarshie's contribution to the country, the farm has been preserved in its original form. Nearby is the Mampong Centre for Scientific Research into Plant Medicine - an attempt to harmonise traditional and western medicine through scientific investigations into medicinal plants.

From Mampong, it is less than an hour's drive back to Accra. While some tour companies offer this excursion, it is just as easy to hire a private car from one of Accra's hotels and go at your own pace, which gives you the option of spending more time in the Mampong region.

Strangely enough, Ghanaians are not big chocolate lovers - although they do have a taste for cocoa drinks. Thankfully for Ghana, the rest of the world is fully smitten, with consumers spending well over 5billion a year on chocolate and cocoa products. The next time you bite into a chocolate bar, pause for a second to remember Tetteh Quarshie - and bear in mind the saying "Nine out of ten people like chocolate; the tenth person is a liar." Ghanaians hope it's true.

Published in Travel Africa Edition Seventeen: Autumn 2001. Text is subject to Worldwide Copyright (c)