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'''Sambirano is an area in the northwest of Madagascar especially known for the production of high quality cacao, also known as the "green gold" of Sambirano. The name refers to the Sambirano Valley as well as the [[Sambirano River ]] which runs from the foothills of the [[Tsaratanana Massif]] into the Ampasindava Bay where it joins with the Ramena River, south of [[Ambanja]].'''
[[File:Sambirano 004091.jpg|600px]]
Due to the proximity of the Tsaratanana mountain range and trade winds, a particular micro-climate occurs in the Sambirano region. During the rainy season, the river floods and deposits extremely fertile alluvia along its river banks, providing ideal conditions for many types of crops, especially cacao.
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All three varieties of cacao grow throughout the year along the river banks of Sambirano, but with two peak seasons: June/July and October/November. The river is divided in two parts, the upper Sambirano (upstream) and the lower Sambirano (downstream). <!-- Harvesting between from ... to ... is done along the upstream part and from ... to ... along the downstream part. -->
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Malagasy cacao derives its special characteristics from the unique climate and soil along the Sambirano riverRiver. The cacao harvest grown in the region can contain up to 10% Criollo beans (cacao grown elsewhere typically contain about 5% Criollo). Cacao harvested from Sambirano is especially suited for high quality, low bitterness dark chocolate and is used by premium quality [[Madagascar Chocolate|Malagasy chocolate]] brands such as [[Chocolaterie Robert]], [[Cinagra]] and [[Chocolaterie Colbert]]. Sambirano cacao is also exported by numerous
[[chocolate makers using Madagascar cocoa]] in their products.
<googlemap version="0.9" latdiv style="max-13.688688" lon="48.450737" type="satellite" zoom="12" controls="largewidth:600px;">{{#display_map:-13.687854, 48.452454~Sambirano River, where it runs through '''[[Ambanja]]'''~~;|type=satellite|service=google|width=auto|height=400|zoom=12|controls=pan, zoom, type, scale|copycoords=yes|icon=https://www.madacamp.com/images/madagascar/Green_marker.png}}</googlemapdiv> [[File:Sambirano 033.jpg|600px]]
== Additional information ==
* View all [[Sambirano photos]]
* [[Sambirano Cocoa Tour]] - bike tour through the cocoa region (7 nights)
* [[Sambirano Trekking Tour]] - trekking tour along the Sambirano River (5 nights)
* [http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2017/10/02/excellence-a-winning-formula-for-madagascan-cocoa-production Excellence: A Winning Formula for Madagascan Cocoa Production] - World Bank article, October 2017
* [[Issouf - a cacao farmer in Sambirano, Madagascar]]
* [[Bean-to-Bar Chocolate made in Madagascar]]
* [[Madagascar Chocolate|Madagascar based chocolate producers and brands]]
* [[Chocolate makers using Madagascar cocoa|Chocolates produced in other countries using cocoa from Madagascar]]
* [http://www.madainfo.de/kakao.htm Cocoa and coffee from Madagascar] In German language
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19256838 Madagascar's luxury chocolate thieves strike fear into farmers] BBC article and video, 10th September 2012.
* [http://iosonoqui.vanityfair.it/category/cacao Sul fronte del cacao] - an article about cocoa theft in Sambirano ("On the Cacao Front") in Italian edition of Vanity Fair, March 2013
