Cocoa in the shade: Examining the socio-economic and ecological impacts of supply chain agroforestry interventions in West Africa

Abstract

Sustainability transitions in agri-food systems are required to address climate change, biodiversity loss, and social inequities. In the West African cocoa sector, firms are promoting agroforestry, the incorporation of multifunctional trees in cocoa farms, in their supply chains to meet their carbon insetting goals, with expected co-benefits for nature and smallholder livelihoods. Despite the rise in agroforestry interventions, adoption remains low, and its potential socio-economic and ecological outcomes are disputed. Existing studies have focused on the impacts of agroforestry adoption in isolation, and broader policy and institutional effects, synergies and trade-offs across socio-economic and ecological outcomes are often assumed and empirically underexamined. My thesis investigates the multi-scalar conditions that influence agroforestry levels and adoption in West African cocoa landscapes and what the implications of agroforestry are for biodiversity conservation, climate mitigation, and smallholder livelihoods within cocoa farms. I adopt a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative and quantitative analyses. Data include 101 semi-structured interviews and focus groups conducted in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana (Chapter 2), household and biomass surveys of 305 cocoa households, 382 drone surveys and 122 farms in Côte d’Ivoire (Chapters 3 and 4), as well as a 12-month panel household survey on food security (Chapter 4). I analyse these data using the multi-level perspective framework and creative destruction theory (Chapter 2), as well as econometric analysis (Chapters 3 and 4). My findings indicate that private sector supply chain interventions alone are insufficient to scale up agroforestry adoption in West African cocoa landscapes. Instead, more transformative policies that secure farmers’ land and tree tenure rights and focus on linkages with food security, underpinned by greater inclusion of farmers in sustainability governance processes, are required. I also find that cocoa agroforestry stores more carbon and tree species diversity than cocoa monocultures. However, it generates modest additional revenue and food security gains, while also facing trade-offs in cocoa yield. Paradoxically, cocoa agroforestry at intermediate to high shade levels is associated with greater intra-annual production variability. This suggests that under current on-farm configurations and at higher shade levels, agroforestry may bring some negative outcomes to cocoa farmers’ food security and livelihoods and may also undermine broader conservation goals due to lower yields. However, this balance could shift with improvements in value chains for agroforestry products and greater attention to yield-enhancing agroforestry practices. Overall, my thesis uncovered untapped leverage points in agroforestry interventions to better align carbon, biodiversity, and livelihoods in tropical agricultural landscapes.