The word “Roça” is to be pronounced « raw sa ». It is the equivalent of Fazenda (Brazil) and Hacienda (Spanish-speaking countries). During the 19th and 20th centuries, when São Tomé was an important producer of cocoa and coffee beans, there were up to 150 roças and their dependencies in activity on the island.

The roças were farms created by the Portuguese, usually with centralized management, and dedicated to the cultivation of one kind of plantation (sugar cane in the 16th century, and cocoa and coffee since the 18th century).