The reason the DR produces such a large amount of the world's organic certified cacao includes a number of factors. The vast majority of cacao in the DR is grown under shade canopies and little inputs are needed like fertilizers because the canopy and remaining pods become compost material. Sun dominate cacao needs added help but production can be 3 or 4 times higher per hectare. Dominican cacao farms give up some productively for the more sustainable system. In the 80's and 90's, USAID and German foreign assistance programs, helped fund the organic certification process. Instead of each farmer skipping the fermentation process and drying the cacao after opening pods. It's called "Sanchez" in the DR because the port where it was first exported, but is not considered high quality cacao. Fermented cacao in the DR is called "Hispanola" and currently 50-60% of the cacao is fermented and I'm not sure what % of the DR production is certified organic, but it is very high for both fermented and unfermented cacao. The cacao is sold to cooperatives and private processors in "baba" or wet, who do the fermentation, drying, sorting, bagging and preparation for export. The certification for organic is done through the cooperatives and the processors so it is taken out of the hands of individual farmers. Not sure why other countries have not followed suit, Peru is probably closest behind the DR. I have more to learn on this topic.