Cocoa bean grow a variety of fruit-bearing shade trees to supplement their income to help cope with the volatile cocoa prices. Although cocoa has been adapted to grow under a dense rainforest canopy, agroforestry does not significantly further enhance cocoa productivity. Cocoa bean The cocoa bean or simply cocoa (), which is also called the cacao bean or cacao (), is the dried and fully fermented seed of "Theobroma cacao", from which cocoa solids (a mixture of nonfat substances) and cocoa butter (the fat) can be extracted. Cocoa beans are the basis of the sweet food preparation called chocolate, and of such
Cabécar people are among the tallest trees often found in Cabécar tropical home gardens. Lower strata include permanent crops such as coffee ("Coffea arabica") and cacao ("Theobroma cacao"). The lowest stratum is characterized by medicinal plants, shrubs, and tubers, including chili pepper ("Capsicum annuum"), manioc ("Manihot esculenta"), and tiquisque ("Xanthosoma violaceum"). The Cabécar maintain their tropical home gardens by removing undesired underbrush to allow for growth of wild species that can also be harvested to supplement Cabécar everyday needs. Cabécar subsistence farmers practice rotating slash-and-burn agriculture for basic food requirements. This technique is employed during the driest month to clear dense underbrush