L'Esterre doesn't look like most other farms. Our cocoa trees sit amongst several acres of sacred tropical forest, perched on breezy hilltops on the east side of the island.

L'Esterre was a big part of my childhood, though I never appreciated it at the time. I dreaded the weekly Sunday lunches with my grandmother and family. For me, it meant guaranteed car sickness on the windy hour-long journey from the south and hundreds of sandfly bites on arrival.

But with age came understanding. Living abroad only deepened my appreciation for L'Esterre. I had been conditioned to thinking the way we were growing our cocoa was messy. Little did I know, this was regenerative agriculture at work; a method of growing that echoes nature's mechanisms; replenishing fresh water, building soil and growing in harmony with various other plant and tree species.