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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
Long-term dynamics of cocoa agroforests: A case study in central Cameroon
Agroforestry Systems, Volume 81, No. 3, Year 2011
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Description
The sustainability of cocoa growing systems in the humid tropics is debatable. Socio-economic and technical data were obtained from 1,171 cocoa farmers and 1,638 cocoa plantations to assess the long-term dynamics of cocoa agroforests in central Cameroon since the beginning of the twentieth century. On-site, we estimated the age of the cocoa trees and measured their density in a sub-sample of 402 cocoa plantations. We inventoried associated woody species in 45 cocoa plantations from this sub-sample. Our results revealed a high Shannon index for the cocoa plantations (2.6) and showed that an average of 25 tree species per cocoa plantation had been planted with the cocoa trees at a density of 120 trees ha-1. Surveys indicated that there had been no mineral fertilization. Nearly 70% of the cocoa agroforests were over 40 years old, and all farmers continuously regenerated their cocoa tree stands. Irrespective of the cocoa plantation age, the cocoa tree density remained over 1,000 plants ha-1, and fermented dried cocoa yields were 255 kg ha-1 on average. Cocoa agroforests occupied 60% of the cultivated area on farms and cocoa sales accounted for 75% of total farm income. Almost a third of the farmers were from the area and under 40 years old. In conclusion, our results show that the farmers' agroforestry practices, in addition to the fact that the cocoa tree stands were continuously regenerated and passed down between generations of farmers, could explain the long-term dynamics of cocoa agroforests in central Cameroon. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
Authors & Co-Authors
Jagoret, Patrick
France, Paris
Cirad
Cameroon, Yaounde
Ministry of Scientific Research and Innovation-cameroon
Michel-Dounias, Isabelle
France, Montpellier
Innovation et Développement Dans L'agriculture et L'alimentation Innovation
Malézieux, Éric É.
France, Montpellier
Fonctionnement Agroécologique et Performances Des Systèmes de Culture Horticoles Hortsys
Statistics
Citations: 107
Authors: 3
Affiliations: 4
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1007/s10457-010-9368-x
ISSN:
01674366
Study Design
Cross Sectional Study
Case Study
Study Approach
Qualitative
Study Locations
Cameroon