A recent study by Armengot et al. compared four cocoa production systems: agroforestry and monocultures, both under organic and conventional management, over the first five years after establishment. While monocultures produced 41% higher cocoa yields, agroforestry systems generated significantly higher total revenues due to the sale of by-crops like bananas and plantains. Importantly, the return...Read More

A recent study by Orozco-Aguilar et al. highlights the contributions of the CacaoFIT network—a collaborative effort among agronomists, researchers, and practitioners—to sustainable cocoa farming in Latin America and the Caribbean. By assembling data from 25 experimental field trials across diverse agroecosystems, the network explores various cacao cultivation models suitable for smallholder farmers. Key findings indicate...Read More

This study finds that using locally-selected cocoa clones can significantly boost cocoa yields. Conducted over five years in Bolivia, the research compared the performance of local clones against widely-used international varieties and found that local clones produced two to five times more cocoa beans. These clones also had larger pods and therefore required fewer pods...Read More

This study examines how pruning shade trees impacts cocoa yields and income in agroforestry systems in Bolivia. Farmers who pruned their shade trees experienced yield increases from 430 kg/ha to 710 kg/ha of dry cocoa beans. This improvement was attributed to better flowering and pod production due to enhanced light availability. While pruning significantly increased...Read More

A recent study conducted in the Alto Beni region of Bolivia compared different cocoa cultivation systems to assess their impact on carbon stocks and tree diversity. Researchers examined cocoa monocultures, simple agroforestry systems, successional agroforestry systems, and fallow land as a control. The findings revealed that successional agroforestry systems had the highest carbon stocks and...Read More

This study compares cocoa monocultures and agroforestry systems under organic and conventional management over a decade in Bolivia. The findings reveal that while monocultures excel in cocoa-specific yields, agroforestry systems produce significantly more total food and provide greater nutritional quality, feeding more people per hectare and working hour. Agroforestry systems also require less non-renewable energy...Read More

A long-term field trial conducted in Bolivia by Schneider et al. compared cocoa monocultures and agroforestry systems under both conventional and organic management. The study found that while conventional monocultures produced the highest cocoa yields initially, agroforestry systems significantly outperformed monocultures in total system yields when considering all marketable products, such as bananas and other...Read More

This study explores the differences between growing cocoa in monocultures and dynamic agroforestry systems (DAF), focusing on smallholder farmers in Bolivia and Côte d’Ivoire. Monoculture cocoa farming often leads to problems like soil degradation, loss of biodiversity, and increased vulnerability to pests, diseases, and climate change. In contrast, DAF mimics natural forests by integrating a...Read More

A recent study by Armengot et al. examines the environmental impacts of different cocoa production systems, focusing on smallholder contexts. The research compares four young cacao systems: conventional monoculture, organic monoculture, conventional agroforestry, and organic agroforestry. Using a life cycle assessment (LCA) approach, the study evaluates the food-energy-water nexus and ten environmental impact categories, such...Read More

The study investigated whether cacao agroforestry systems lead to higher pest and disease incidence compared to monocultures. Contrary to traditional beliefs, the study found that when good cultural management practices—such as regular pruning, frequent harvesting, and prompt removal of diseased pods—are implemented, agroforestry systems do not have higher pest and disease rates than monocultures. In...Read More