In the humid forest zone of Southern Cameroon, farmers generally associate cocoa with native and exotic trees in complex agroforestry systems. Despite the socioeconomic and ecological importance of these systems, few studies have investigated their plant composition. We investigated tree composition of cocoa agroforests along a gradient of market access, population density and resource use intensity in the humid forest zone of southern Cameroon, comprising (i) the sub-region of Yaoundé, (ii) the sub-region of Mbalmayo, and (iii) the sub-region of Ebolowa. Market access, population density and resource use intensity all decreased from the first to the third sub-region. We quantified the diversity of tree species associated with cocoa within individual agroforests, among agroforests in the same region, and among the three sub-regions, and classified the tree species according to their main uses. A total of 9.1 ha belonging to 60 cocoa agroforests were inventoried in 12 villages. We encountered a total of 206 tree species with an average of 21 tree species per agroforest. In the more urbanized area around Yaoundé, agroforests were less diverse than in the other sub-regions. In all of the agroforests, food producing tree species tended to be more frequent than other species. Two thirds of the food trees were native forest species and one third was introduced. From Ebolowa to Yaoundé, the

Cocoa production in humid forest landscapes has been one of the main cash providers of West and Central African economies. Along with the liberalization of the perennial tree sector, there are increased fluctuations of cocoa income. At the same time, the demand and interest for timber production and non-wood forest products have also been increasing. With the continuous disappearance of natural forests, the production of these commodities is being shifted into cocoa agroforests and plantations. In view of helping research and development institutions in promoting sustainable tree crop systems, this paper attempts, for the main cocoa producing countries of West Africa (Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire), to: (1) document the temporal evolution of the market demand for forests and nonwood forest products both at the local and international levels;(2) explore the set of tree species that can be produced in cocoa agroforests of WCA to satisfy this demand. Deforestation resulting partly from the expansion of perennial orchards and slash and burn agriculture is: (i) leading to a shortage of suitable forest land necessary to stabilize or increase national cocoa production and (ii) increasing the gap between the demand and availability/supply of non-wood forest products (NWFP) and timber by reducing the main source of these products-the forest. Demand of these products is increasing with the growth of urban and peri-urban centers. At the same time, perennial agroforestry systems such as cocoa agroforest are increasingly perceived as assets for Payment for Environmental Services (PES)

No abstract

The distribution and composition of the tree component inside cocoa agroforests plays an important role in the economic and ecological services offered by these plantations. The presence of these plant components appears to be influenced by several factors controlling the introduction and management of associated plants inside cocoa agroforests. To date, few studies have tried to evaluate the horizontal and vertical distribution of plants inside cocoa plantations in Cameroon. This study determines the structure of cocoa plantations in Southern Cameroon. Field data were collected in 60 cocoa plantations belonging to 12 villages located along a contiguous gradient of market access, population density and resource use intensity in the humid forest zone of southern Cameroon. This study area comprises (i) the sub-region of Yaoundé, (ii) the sub-region of Mbalmayo, and (iii) the subregion of Ebolowa. Market access, population density and resource use intensity all decreased from the first to the third sub-region. For cocoa and associated plants, we quantified (1) the density (2) the individual number, the species composition and the group uses of plants (edible, timber, medicinal, etc…) distribution across strata, and (3) the basal area in the 60 cocoa plantations located in the three main sub-regions. Results are presented for each sub-region and the whole study area. The paper develops cocoa agroforest typologies and discusses possible implications of cocoa agroforest structure diversity in the achievement of economic and ecological services.

No abstract