Characterization of cocoa agroforestry systems and evaluation of their sustainability : the case of Center Cameroon

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CHARACTERIZATION OF COCOA AGROFORESTRY SYSTEMS

AND EVALUATION OF THEIR SUSTAINABILITY:

THE CASE OF CENTER CAMEROON

P. JAGORET, I. MICHEL

and E. MALEZIEUX 2nd _{World Congress of Agroforestry}

Nairobi, 23-28 August 2009 IRAD 1571 1060 1115 3008 4095 1043 1024 927 0 50 100 km 4° 4° 12° 16° Est Sud Littoral Lem D jé re_m Sanag a Ka d éi Dja Mbam N ou_n Yaoundé Douala Bafia Mfou Akonolinga Dschang Mont Cameroun 12° 16° 1295 Nord-Ouest Ebolowa Kribi Ngonksamba Edea Sangmélima Mbalmayo Bamenda Foumban Ouest Bafoussam Bélabo Batouri Bertoua Lomié Buéa Sud-Ouest Mundemba Kumba Garoua Boulaï Centre

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INTRODUCTION 1/1

(i) The oldest cocoa production region of Cameroon is the Center-South basin where cocoa trees are usually grown with many forest and fruit trees species (Shannon index value around 3).

(ii) A large part of the cocoa orchard contains very old, yet still active, cocoa plots, contrary to what is commonly thought.

(iii) In fact, one usually consider that cocoa cultivation is characterized by a permanent movement of production zones due to difficulties for farmers to replant their old cocoa plantations after 30-40 years.

Lack of sustainability of the main cocoa cropping systems whose level of agrodiversity is usually low.

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Study zones Ngomedzap Zima Yaoundé J _{F M A M J J A S O N D} T(°C) R(mm) J _{F M A M J J A S O N D} T(°C) R(mm) Chad Central African Republic Nigeria Congo Gabon Equatorial Guinea Atlantic ocean Yaoundé State capital Study zone Region border Main road Forest Savanna 111 37 37 1700-1800 mm 1500-1600 mm 1800 mm Population density Annual average rainfall

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MATERIALS AND METHODS 2/2

Survey (2003) in 742 cocoa farms

1142 cocoa plantations 316 cocoa plantations (stable area)

Importance of cocoa agroforestry systems in the crop rotation and in the revenue of the farmers

Cocoa density and

fermended dried cocoa yields age, technical management

Datas collected Experimental design

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0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 < 10 years 10-20 years 21-30 years 31-40 years 41-50 years 51-60 years > 60 years %

Distribution of cocoa plantations per age category (first plantings). Study involving 1142 cocoa plantations of Zima

and Ngomedzap study zones.

81 % of

cocoa plantations are more than

40 years old Oldness of the cocoa

agroforestry systems of Center Cameroon

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Importance of cocoa agroforestry systems for farmers

Study zones

Farmed

area (ha) Cocoa area (ha) % Total farm Income (CFA F) Cocoa income(CFA F) %

Zima 6,1

(+ 3,71)* 3,8(+ 2,58) 62 1 019 936(+ 762 114,41) 778 419(+ 542 339,55) 76

Ngomedzap 6,8

(+ 4,10) 4,1(+ 2,78) 60 742 149 (+ 839 744,10) 572 289(+ 431 681,80) 77

RESULTS 2/4

Old cocoa agroforestry systems

remain the economical and social basis of the farms

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RESULTS 3/4

Study

zones Cost of the chemical inputs per hectare (CFA F) _{Mirid control} _{Black pod control}

Zima 4 332 (+ 3 217.04) 14 906 (+ 13 588.29)

Ngomedzap 5 096 (+ 3 152.64) 14 047 (+ 9 777.22)

Cocoa agroforestry systems management

Study

zones Cocoa regeneration methods (% of farmers)_{Replantation of}

cocoa plantations Rejuvenation ofcocoa trees

Zima 94.3 45.8

Ngomedzap 89.1 70.1

Cocoa phytosanitary protection is 5 times cheaper than the usual recommendations No chemical fertilization Regeneration methods allow a progressive renewal of the orchards

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RESULTS 4/4

0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 < 10 years 10-20 years 21-30 years 31-40 years 41-50 years 51-60 years N um ber of c oc oa t rees per hec tar e

Evaluation of the sustainability of the cocoa agroforestry systems

0 100 200 300 400 500 10-20 years 21-30 years 31-40 years 41-50 years 51-60 years > 60 years F er m ended dr ied c oc oa y iel d ( k g ha -1 )

Density of cocoa trees and cocoa yields are remarkably stable for the long term

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CONCLUSION 1/1

(i) Our study confirms the sustainability of the cocoa agroforestry systems of Centre Cameroon.

(ii) The existence of very old and still active cocoa agroforests shows that another cocoa cultivation model is possible and different from the one usually recommended to the farmers, mainly based on a low level of biodiversity and an intensive management of cocoa trees.

(iii) These cocoa agro-forestry systems can certainly be improved to guarantee a better income to the farmers. However they offer a strong alternative to the problem of the conversion of cocoa cropping systems based on the development of pioneer fronts towards more stable and viable cocoa cropping systems.