Some people in southern Cameroon grow cacao in the understory of the native forest with no deforestation (just clearing the underbrush), no corporate plantations, no slave labour, just smallholder farmers. But of course they are a minority in terms of total production, and a farm does not have the biodiversity of the original forest, and many people are shifting to replacing forest with (native) oil palm plantations now that fungus is threatening cacao revenue.

Syntropic agriculture has the potential for sustainable cacao production, as proven by Ernst Götsch’s farm in Bahia (mentioned here).