WEST AFRICA: Beginning in March of 2000, a former Penn State research associate, Abdoulaye Traore, living in Africa, has worked to establish the Penn State cocoa embryogenesis system in Ghana, Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Nigeria. The work, although initially met with some difficult conditions and malfunctioning equipment, has been very successful, and the first plants propagated via somatic embryogenesis, and micropropagation have been produced and acclimated, and will soon be planted in the field in both countries. At the end of the first year there are more than 8000 somatic embryos produced in Ivory Coast and more that 400 embryos in Ghana. With support from Sustainable Tree Crop Program, USAID during year 2001, the technology was also transferred to scientist in Cameroon and Nigeria.