Slash-and-burn remains one of the most common land preparation methods in tropical agriculture, used by both smallholders and large-scale farmers for annual and perennial cropping. However, this practice causes rapid soil fertility decline, biodiversity loss, erosion, and vulnerability to weeds, pests, and diseases. Dynamic Agroforestry (DAF), provides a fire-free and input-free alternative that combines productivity...Read More

Cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) production systems in West Africa face increasing climate risks, declining soil fertility, and market pressures that undermine both productivity and sustainability. In response, the “Sustainable Mangos and Cashews – Made in Africa” project—co-funded by the Swiss Coop Sustainability Fund, HALBA, and gebana— introduced and scaled Dynamic Agroforestry (DAF) as a regenerative,...Read More

La coca es uno de los cultivos más antiguos en los Yungas de La Paz. Hoy en día, en su mayoría se planta en monocultivos y muchas veces en laderas inestables. El monocultivo de coca degrada los suelos, causa deslizamientos de terrenos, pérdida de biodiversidad y se desarrolla con el uso de agroquímicos potencialmente dañinos...Read More

Soil moisture has high spatial and temporal variability, depending on topography, soil texture, vegetation and meteorological conditions. It influences many processes in the soil and supplies water to the vegetation. This is often a limiting factor in agricultural production. Over an 18-month period, we measured soil moisture dynamics down to a depth of 70 cm...Read More

Agroforestry systems (AFS) can serve to decrease ecosystem carbon (C) losses caused by deforestation and inadequate soil management. Because of their shade tolerance, cacao plants are suitable to be grown in AFS, since they can be combined with other kinds of trees and shrubs. The potential for C sequestration in cacao farming systems depends on...Read More

Maintaining soil quality for agricultural production is a critical challenge, especially in the tropics. Due to the focus on environmental performance and the provision of soil ecosystem services, organic farming and agroforestry systems are proposed as alternative options to conventional monoculture farming. Soil processes underlying ecosystem services are strongly mediated by microbes; thus, increased understanding...Read More

Agroforestry systems are perceived as an effective approach to store carbon in agroecosystems by building tree biomass and raising soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks. This is especially evident in the tropics, where the cultivation of cash crops such as cacao in agroforestry systems is increasingly used. Among agroforestry systems, organic management, which avoids synthetic inputs...Read More

Cacao in agroforestry systems can benefit from improved nutrient cycling, since shade trees could transfer nutrients through litterfall and pruning residues. Additionally, shade trees could affect decomposition processes of these residues. Studies on nutrient release from pruning residues and on the effect of shade trees on decomposition processes are scarce. We aimed to determine how...Read More