Reflections on a Durable Cacao Production System: The Situation in the Ivory Coast, Africa
Cacao tree cultivation plays an integral role among the Côte d'Ivoire's traditional activities. Farmers use an ambulatory method of exploitation, and the establishment of plantations has gone through three phases: cultivation of the Amelonado variety on the cleared forest floor, cultivation under forest regrowth, and cultivation of high-yield, Upper-Amazonian species in direct sunlight and in association with fruit trees and other food-producing plants. Today, most plantations are products of the last phase which has resulted in considerable deforestation. The techniques recommended by research have shown varying levels of success among the farmers, and the exploitations with a satisfactory level of productivity are few. Phytosanitary treatments and fertilizers are applied only partially or not at all, which can result in the plantations' premature degradation. In order to assure a long-lasting cacao production, the Côte d'Ivoire's plantations need to be rehabilitated through the use of pesticides and fertilizers, and an effective system of association needs to be developed between cacao trees and the shade trees that, while protecting the cacao, contributes to satisfying the producers' needs and protecting the environment during orchard renewal.
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | biblioteca |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Washington DC (EUA): Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute,
1998
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| Subjects: | THEOBROMA CACAO, PLANTACION, PLANTAS DE SOMBRA, UMBRIA, AGROFORESTERIA, SOSTENIBILIDAD, |
| Online Access: | https://nationalzoo.si.edu/scbi/migratorybirds/research/cacao/koffi1.cfm |
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