Sao Tome and Principe - The fields of Monte Café, Agua-lzé and Sundy of São Tomé and Príncipe

 The period of establishment of the Roças in Sao Tome and Principe began with the introduction of the monoculture of cocoa and coffee in the 19th century. It emerged as a center of historical-colonial agricultural production, similar to the feudal (closed) system, whose production process was carried out through forced labor, where labor (servants) came from various countries from the African coast, namely Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Benin, Congo and Sierra Leone.

In terms of organization, the roças were divided into two types: headquarters and dependencies. The roças of the headquarters are mainly characterized by the main house (house of the owner or the administrator) which had a strategic location, since the administrator, from his balcony, could dominate the whole scenario, the administration, the hospital , the mortuary chapels, a church, the crèches, the workshops, the dryer, the bell, the warehouse, the courtyard (common space for servants), the sanzala (workers' quarter), the stores (canteens), the botanical garden , surrounded by tens of kilometers of railroads that facilitated the transport of products, a port (in the plantations located near the coast). Smaller plantations could be associated with the main plantation, being then called "dependências" - space of permanent exchange of goods. The existence of the roças is linked to the introduction/production of the monoculture of cocoa and coffee.