Contribution of cocoa agroforestry systems to family income and domestic consumption: looking toward intensification

Abstract

While the potential of agroforestry products to contribute to rural livelihoods is well-recognized, the quantification of their yields, incomes, and value for domestic consumption (VDC) and knowledge about their relationships with biodiversity are still scarce. This information is crucial for choosing the best strategy for growing cocoa in tropical landscapes while conserving biodiversity and enhancing ecosystem services. We analyzed the contribution of cocoa agroforestry farming to the incomes and domestic consumption of small farmers¿ families in 179 cocoa agroforestry systems (CAFS) (254 ha) in five Central American countries. The two hypotheses were: (1) agroforestry products are as important as cocoa in contributing to livelihoods, (2) the typology of CAFS determines the relationships between socioeconomic indicators and yield, biodiversity, and structure of the shade canopy, as well as the relationships between plant species richness and cocoa yield. We quantified the yields of agroforestry products and their contribution to net income, cash flow, and family benefits and developed a typology of CAFS production to evaluate relationships for each CAFS cluster. The main agroforestry products other than cocoa were bananas, oranges, peach palm, other fruits, and timber, which generated modest cash incomes but high VDC at low cash costs, thus contributing to family savings and food security. Timber volumes and harvest rates were low but significant increase was deemed feasible. The contribution of the set of agroforestry products to family benefits was similar or higher than cocoa, depending on the typology of the CAFS. Intensified highly diverse-dense CAFS demonstrated remarkably higher yields, net income, cash flow, and family benefits, and had more synergetic relationships than extensive CAFS and traditional highly diverse-dense CAFS, which showed more trade-offs. Our findings point to intensified highly diverse-dense CAFS as feasible for farming within a land-sparing strategy. Further research is needed to better understand the mechanisms that could regulate synergies or trade-offs to improve this type of intensification. (Résumé d'auteur

Cacao agroforestry systems have higher return on labor compared to full-sun monocultures

“…3b). Thus, our results show that agroforestry systems not only support farmers' livelihood because of the higher diversification of crops for self-consumption, as has been widely reported (Cerda et al 2014), but also they have higher return on labor than the full-sun monocultures.…”

“…However, cacao production under organic farming is still very low, i.e., approximately 2.3% of the global production area (Willer and Lernoud 2015). Several studies have already demonstrated that agroforestry systems can improve farmers' livelihoods due to self-consumption of by-crops, such as bananas, oranges, and peach palm, among others (Cerda et al 2014). However, when assessing cacao production systems, most studies focus on cacao yields without quantitatively assessing the economic returns of by-crops (Cerda et al 2014).…”

“…Several studies have already demonstrated that agroforestry systems can improve farmers' livelihoods due to self-consumption of by-crops, such as bananas, oranges, and peach palm, among others (Cerda et al 2014). However, when assessing cacao production systems, most studies focus on cacao yields without quantitatively assessing the economic returns of by-crops (Cerda et al 2014). Lack of access to the market and the low density at which by-crops are commonly grown are two of the main drawbacks to selling them.…”

“…Cacao plantations reach full production in approximately 10 years, and most studies focus on fully productive plantations (Cerda et al 2014). The first years of plantation are indeed the most sensitive because cacao sales returns are not high.…”

Improving diets with wild and cultivated biodiversity from across the landscape

“…Home gardens can be a form of agroforestry (Kehlenbeck et al 2007), and may be an important pathway through which agroforestry could contribute to nutrition . A recent paper by Cerda et al (2014) using yield and crop use information for cacao agroforestry systems in multiple Central American countries concluded that diversity in canopy trees is associated with increased fruit available for home consumption. However, to date, no published studies have tested the relationship between agroforestry (other than home-gardens) and dietary intake.…”