Dataset Information

Characterization of cocoa production, income diversification and shade tree management along a climate gradient in Ghana.

ABSTRACT: Reduced climatic suitability due to climate change in cocoa growing regions of Ghana is expected in the coming decades. This threatens farmers' livelihood and the cocoa sector. Climate change adaptation requires an improved understanding of existing cocoa production systems and farmers' coping strategies. This study characterized current cocoa production, income diversification and shade tree management along a climate gradient within the cocoa belt of Ghana. The objectives were to 1) compare existing production and income diversification between dry, mid and wet climatic regions, and 2) identify shade trees in cocoa agroforestry systems and their distribution along the climatic gradient. Our results showed that current mean cocoa yield level of 288kg ha-1yr-1 in the dry region was significantly lower than in the mid and wet regions with mean yields of 712 and 849 kg ha-1 yr-1, respectively. In the dry region, farmers diversified their income sources with non-cocoa crops and off-farm activities while farmers at the mid and wet regions mainly depended on cocoa (over 80% of annual income). Two shade systems classified as medium and low shade cocoa agroforestry systems were identified across the studied regions. The medium shade system was more abundant in the dry region and associated to adaptation to marginal climatic conditions. The low shade system showed significantly higher yield in the wet region but no difference was observed between the mid and dry regions. This study highlights the need for optimum shade level recommendation to be climatic region specific.

SUBMITTER: Abdulai I

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5902014 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Characterization of cocoa production, income diversification and shade tree management along a climate gradient in Ghana.

Abdulai Issaka I Jassogne Laurence L Graefe Sophie S Asare Richard R Van Asten Piet P Läderach Peter P Vaast Philippe P

PloS one 20180416 4

Reduced climatic suitability due to climate change in cocoa growing regions of Ghana is expected in the coming decades. This threatens farmers' livelihood and the cocoa sector. Climate change adaptation requires an improved understanding of existing cocoa production systems and farmers' coping strategies. This study characterized current cocoa production, income diversification and shade tree management along a climate gradient within the cocoa belt of Ghana. The objectives were to 1) compare ex ...[more]

PMID: 29659629

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Project description:Urbanization, among the most widespread and multifaceted anthropogenic change drivers, exerts strong influences on a diversity of ecological communities worldwide. We have begun to understand how urbanization affects species diversity, yet we still have limited knowledge about the ways that species interactions are altered by urbanization. We have an especially poor understanding of how urbanization influences stress-buffering mutualisms, despite the high levels of multivariate stress that urban organisms must overcome and the importance of these interactions to the fitness of many organisms. In this study, we investigated the effects of urbanization on a mutualism between tree cholla cacti (Cylindropuntia imbricata) and visiting ants. We first examined how plant size, ant species composition, and ant activity varied on C. imbricata across an urbanization gradient (urban, suburban, wild) in and around Albuquerque, NM. Ant species composition and activity varied significantly across the urbanization gradient, with ant communities from wildlands having the highest activity and the most dissimilar species composition compared to both suburban and urban sites. In contrast, plant size remained constant regardless of site type. We then experimentally assessed how nectar levels influenced ant aggressive encounters with proxy prey (Drosophila melanogaster larvae) on C. imbricata across urban and wild sites. Ants were more likely to discover, attack, and remove proxy prey in wild sites compared to urban sites; they also performed these behaviors more quickly in wild sites. Nectar supplementation had weaker effects on ant aggression than urbanization, but consistently increased the speed at which aggressive behaviors occurred. Future studies that examine nectar quality and herbivorous arthropod abundance may help explain why this strong difference in ant composition and aggression was not associated with lower plant fitness proxies (i.e. size traits). Nevertheless, this study provides unique insight into the growing body of work demonstrating that mutualisms vary significantly across urbanization gradients.

Project description:Termites have gained importance as major pests in cocoa agroforests. Proper identification of termite species and knowledge on their functional diversity are the first steps in developing environmentally compatible management strategies. We tested the hypothesis that patterns of termite species richness in different cocoa agroforests is related to responses by termite functional groups to changes in shade management. We compared termite assemblages under five cocoa agroforestry systems in Cameroon to assess the impact of shade on termite taxonomic and functional group diversity. Sampling was done using a modified standardized transect method. Two 30 × 30 m quadrates each divided into three transects were laid in four farms at each site. Termites sampled were identified and grouped according to habitats, functional groups, and feeding habits. Sixty-nine termite species in 33 genera and five subfamilies under two families were sampled. Termitidae was the most dominant family and Rhinotermitidae the least dominant with few species. Termite species richness decreased significantly from the heavy shaded cocoa agroforests (44 species) to the full sun (11 species). Functional group pattern differed significantly in all the cocoa agroforests and within each agroforestry system and dominated by wood and litter feeder species. Many species belonging to this group were responsible to most damages on cocoa trees. Both the richness of termite pests and marketable yield followed a quadratic curve and were found to be lowest and highest in plots with shade cover above 40%. The simulated optimal shade levels for low termite infestations and marketable yield overlapped between 45% and 65% indicating that cocoa agroforestry systems with around 55% shade cover may be optimal to balance termite infestations and marketable yield. Shade maintenance in cocoa agroforests is valuable in reducing termite pest species and conserving soil feeding termites which provide beneficial ecosystem services.

Project description:BackgroundMalnutrition is a worldwide problem that impacts every country, affecting one in three individuals, including Ghana. According to estimates from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 690 million people were undernourished globally in 2019. Malnutrition is no exception in rural cocoa communities in Ghana. The expansion of cocoa is causing food insecurity and low dietary diversity in most cocoa-growing areas. There is little information on the food security status and dietary diversity among male-headed and female-headed cocoa households in the Juaboso-Bia cocoa landscape. Thus, this study sought to explore the dietary diversity distribution, food security status, sources of staple food, food unavailability periods, food production status, themes contributing to low dietary diversity and food insecurity, and perception of the impact of cocoa expansion on crop diversification among male-headed and female-headed cocoa households in the study area.MethodsBoth quantitative and qualitative research methods were employed to address the research questions. The study collected 200 semi-structured questionnaire data and 14 in-depth interview data from cocoa household heads in the Juaboso-Bia landscape. The survey data was cleaned and analysis, such as household dietary diversity status, food security status, and binary logistic regression were performed in the Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS). The in-depth interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis.ResultsThrough this study, it was revealed that 62.8% of the male-headed cocoa households had medium to high dietary diversity compared to their female counterparts 39.3%. About 47.9% of the male-headed households were food secure than the female-headed households (29.1%). Moreover, the months that both male and female-headed households recalled facing severe food unavailability were July and June. In addition, climate change/variability, unavailable lands, poverty, large household size, and gender stereotypes were themes promoting low dietary diversity and food insecurity among male and female-headed households. Furthermore, sex, total household income, and cropland conversion to cocoa were the variables influencing household heads' perception of the impact of cocoa expansion on crop diversification.ConclusionsThe study showed that the male-headed cocoa households had high dietary diversity and were food secure than the female-headed cocoa households, lending credence to the conceptual framework applied in this study. There is a significant relationship between household head gender and food security status. Therefore, this study recommends the following interventions to improve dietary diversity and food security among male and female-headed cocoa households: raise awareness about the need for diverse diets and provide practical information on how to incorporate a greater variety of food groups into their daily meals; and promote gender equity and inclusivity in food security interventions. Future research could investigate how gender mainstreaming policies in agriculture have helped empower and improve the food security of female-headed households in Ghana.

Dataset Information

Characterization of cocoa production, income diversification and shade tree management along a climate gradient in Ghana.

Publications

Characterization of cocoa production, income diversification and shade tree management along a climate gradient in Ghana.

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