This study presents 15 years of data (2008–2022) from the SysCom long-term trial in Bolivia. Researchers compared five cacao systems: conventional and organic monocultures, conventional and organic agroforestry, and successional agroforestry without external inputs.
In the mature phase (2017–2022), organic and conventional systems reached similar cacao yields. Monocultures averaged 1,300 kg/ha. Agroforestry systems averaged 736 kg/ha, reaching 56% of monoculture yields. This gap stayed constant throughout the study.
Notably, the successional system used no external inputs. It still matched the other agroforestry systems’ yields, once farmers reduced shade tree density and intensified pruning.
Cacao yields told only part of the story. Agroforestry systems produced far more food overall. Two systems generated total yields up to 6.9 times higher than monocultures, driven mainly by banana. The successional system produced 3.3 times higher total yields, harvesting 22 different crops over 15 years. Cacao made up less than 10% of total marketable yield across all agroforestry systems.
These findings show that diverse, dense agroforestry systems can achieve competitive cacao yields. They can also produce far more total food per hectare than monocultures—even without external inputs—once farmers optimize management, especially shade pruning.
