Integrated landscape approaches have been welcomed by scientists and development practitioners as a promising way to address commodity-driven deforestation and associated land degradation and greenhouse gas emissions. They present cross-sectoral approaches to manage trade-offs between multiple land uses and environmental and socio-economic objectives through participatory multi-stakeholder planning and negotiation processes. The success of landscape approaches depends on the larger institutional systems of rules, regulations, and actor networks in which they are embedded. Yet, there remains a critical gap in our understanding of how such enabling conditions can be established. Taking the case of Ghana, this research analyses cross-sectoral institutional innovation in commodity and forestry regimes promoting the enabling conditions to move integrated landscape approaches from theory to practice. As part of its National REDD+ Strategy, Ghana has led the way for jurisdictional REDD+ and has successfully mobilized broad-based stakeholder engagement and funding around a shared purpose: climate-smart cocoa in community co-managed forest landscapes. In this article, we apply a Multi-Level Perspective (Geels, 2002) to analyse the process of institutional innovation under the Ghana Cocoa Forest REDD+ Programme (GCFRP). Despite early signs of regime change and alignment in Ghana’s cocoa and forestry sectors, GCFRP’s success is threatened by, amongst others, frustrated reforms to tree tenure and timber benefit-sharing rights. Our research demonstrates that political commitment for institutional change beyond landscape and jurisdictional scales is essential to enable climate-smart landscape transitions.
Tag: cocoa
Positive Influence of Certification on the Financial Performance of Cocoa Production Models in Cameroon
Cameroon plans to double its cocoa production in the coming decade in line with international requirements for sustainable and deforestation-free cocoa. Private certification, which has developed considerably in recent years, should help achieve this objective. Based on a literature review and 63 individual interviews with farmers, we identified four archetypes of cocoa production using the criteria of plantation size, degree of shade, and support from public or private extension services. We analyzed the average operating accounts of the four archetypes. Our findings show that the net profit rates obtained by small-scale certified producers are 14% (in the savannah zone) and 24% (in the forest zone). These rates are much higher than for the other two production models. Certification schemes provide technical and financial support, which has a positive influence on the practices of many small-scale producers and compensates for the lack of public services, which are now almost non-existent. A hybrid governance of the cocoa sector in Cameroon could clarify and improve the organization of the interactions between public regulation and private certification systems.
Exploring barriers to agroforestry adoption by cocoa farmers in south-western Côte d’Ivoire
Agroforestry is part of the package of good agricultural practices (GAPs) referred to as a reference to basic environmental and operational conditions necessary for the safe, healthy, and sustainable production of cocoa. Furthermore, cocoa agroforestry is one of the most effective nature-based solutions to address global change including land degradation, nutrient depletion, climate change, biodiversity loss, food and nutrition insecurity, and rural poverty and current cocoa supply chain issues. This study was carried out in South-Western Côte d’Ivoire through a household survey to assess the willingness of cocoa farmers to adopt cocoa agroforestry, a key step towards achieving sustainability in the cocoa supply chain markedly threatened by all types of biophysical and socio-economic challenges. In total, 910 cocoa households were randomly selected and individually interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Findings revealed that from the overwhelming proportion of farmers practicing full-sun cocoa farming with little or no companion trees associated, 50.2 to 82.1% were willing to plant and to keep fewer than 20 trees per ha in their farms for more than 20 years after planting. The most preferred trees provide a range of ecosystem services, including timber and food production, as well as shade regulation. More than half of the interviewed households considered keeping in their trees in their plantations for more than 20 years subject to the existence of a formal contract to protect their rights and tree ownership. This opinion is significantly affected by age, gender, access to seedlings of companion trees and financial resources. A bold step forward towards transitioning to cocoa agroforestry and thereby agroecological intensification lies in (i) solving the issue of land tenure and tree ownership by raising awareness about the new forest code and, particularly, the understanding of cocoa agroforestry, (ii) highlighting the added value of trees in cocoa lands, and (iii) facilitating access to improved cocoa companion tree materials and incentives. Trends emerged from this six-year-old study about potential obstacles likely to impede the adoption of agroforestry by cocoa farmers meet the conclusions of several studies recently rolled out in the same region for a sustainable cocoa sector, thereby confirming that not only the relevance of this work but also its contribution to paving the way for the promotion of agroecological transition in cocoa farming. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
CACAOmustahan. Volume 01, Issue 01. January-March 2022
The Philippines still has a long way to go in terms of achieving its Cacao Challenge of producing two kilograms of cacao per tree per year by 2022. According to 2019 data from the Philippine Department of Agriculture, the average production in the country is still at one-half to one kilogram per tree per year. In a policy and regulation review conducted by the Sustainable Farming in Tropical Asian Landscapes (SFITAL) Team in the Philippines, it was argued that multi-stakeholder involvement is necessary for smallholders to reach the target production level.
Balancing litterfall and decomposition in cacao agroforestry systems
Backgrounds and aims: Litter protects the underlying soil, depending on litterfall and decomposition, but dynamics of the standing litter stock in agroforestry systems remain poorly understood. We aimed to unravel effects of litter quality, temporal patterns, microclimate, and a possible home-field advantage (HFA) on standing litter dynamics across a land-use gradient. Methods: We quantified litterfall, the standing litter stock, and microclimate during a year in (remnant) forest, cacao-based simple and complex agroforestry, cacao monocultures, and annual crops in a cacao producing area in Indonesia. We conducted a reciprocal litter transfer experiment, and tested decomposition rates of pruning residues. Standing litter stocks during the year were estimated from monthly litterfall and decomposition rates. Results: Variation in litter quality influenced decomposition rates more strongly than variation in microclimate or HFA. Lower litter quality in complex agroforestry and in the cacao monoculture decreased the decay rate compared to simple agroforestry systems; mean litter residence time was over a year. Mixing high- and low-quality material in pruning residues modified the decomposition rate, soil C and N changes, offering options for targeted management of soil protection and nutrient release. Conclusions: The seasonal patterns of litterfall and relatively slow decomposition rates supported permanence of the litter layer in all cacao production systems, protecting the underlying soil.
How much do cocoa and coffee contribute to livelihoods in Africa?
Cocoa and coffee are tree commodities essential to West and East African economies. In West Africa, smallholder farmers produced an estimated 73% of total cocoa production as of 2015, with the average farm size being around one to four hectares (Wessel and Quist-Wessel 2015). These farmers rely heavily on cocoa production, and it constitutes a significant proportion of their household income (Bymolt et al 2018). Since the 1930s, West African farmers have been world leaders in cocoa production led by Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, and Cameroon, competing with Southeast Asia and small volumes from the Latin American countries of origin. Cocoa is relevant to the economies of several countries (Figure 14.1). In Cote d’ Ivoire, although the cocoa contribution to the national GDP has been fluctuating over the years, it peaked at 10% in 2003 and was about 7% as of 2013. For Ghana and Cameroon, cocoa contributes approximately 2-4% to the respective countries’ GDP. Similarly, cocoa exports constituted about 40% of Cote d’ Ivoire’s total export value as of 2016, the highest over the last three decades. Cocoa’s contribution to Ghana’s exports has however, been on a decline over the years, from 52% in 1987 to about 10% in 2016.
Cocoa and coffee in Asia: contrasts and similarities in production and value addition
Cocoa and coffee are important components of many tropical landscapes, at the start of value chains that reach the vast majority of global citizens through a variety of beverages and consumables. Yet, the specific history and current modes of production differ between the three main tropical continents and need to be understood in their historical, ecological, social and economic context.
Study on Policy and regulation for sustainable cocoa in Indonesia
In Indonesia, cocoa is one of the most prioritized commodities for trade and supplies the world’s demand. The focus on the process of cocoa cultivation generates quality cocoa. The data from the Indonesia Statistics Agency (BPS) in 2019 recorded that cacao production in Indonesia exceeded 785 thousand tonnes and positioned fifth, after palm oil, rubber, coffee, and coconut1. Internationally, Indonesia is the third-largest cocoa producer after Ivory Coast and Ghana (Effendy et al., 2013; Effendy et al., 2015).
Rehabilitation and renovation of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) agroforestry systems. A review
In this review, we (1) explore the diversity of contexts, driving forces, stakeholders and recommended management practices involved in Rh/Re initiatives in key cocoa-producing countries; (2) summarise the often conflicting views of farmers and extension agents on Rh/Re programmes; (3) review the evidence of age-related changes in planting density and yield of cocoa, given the weight of these variables in Rh/Re decision processes; (4) describe the best known Rh/Re systems and their most common management practices; (5) propose an agroforestry Re approach that overcomes the limitation of current Rh/Re diagnosis protocols, which do not consider the regular flow of food crop and tree products, and the need to restore site soil quality to sustain another cycle of cultivation of cocoa at the same site; and (6) explore the effects of climate change considerations on Rh/Re decision-making and implementation processes.
Shade tree identity rather than diversity influences soil macrofauna in cacao-based agroforestry systems
Humanity is facing a rapid decline in global biodiversity, caused mainly by tropical deforestation through industrial and smallholder agriculture. However, smallholder agriculture landscapes host areas containing home gardens and other agroforestry systems (AFS) proved highly relevant for soil and biodiversity conservation. The positive interactions between aboveground and belowground biodiversity probably constitute a key element to promote the efficiency of these agro-ecosystems. To determine whether a relationship exists between tree and soil macrofauna diversity and composition, we compared cacao AFS with contrasted tree diversity along a topography and forest cover gradient in Talamanca, Costa Rica. To determine which components of the shade tree species, community structure (density, richness, Shannon, Pielou), and agroforest floor best explain the macrofauna community composition and structure, we constructed the “best models” based on the tree composition, tree structure, and agroforest floor as explanatory matrices in redundancy analyses. Macrofauna composition was best explained by a mix of tree species and litter attributes (R2=26.5 %), whereas macrofauna and vegetation co-vary significantly with topography (R2=12 %). Macrofauna structure is best explained by a selection of seven tree species (R2=41.2 %). The co-variation with topography remained low (R2=10.9 %). Tree evenness (Pielou index) explained only 7 % of macrofauna community structure while other diversity indices were not correlated with macrofauna composition or structure. The soil macrofauna was therefore more influenced by tree identity and litter composition than by the overall diversity of the tree community. This information is important for designing the optimal combinations of species for the intensification of production and provision of ecosystem services in cacao-based AFS.