Farming Systems and Resilience Building in a Changing Climate On-Farm Comparisons of Organic and Conventional Cocoa Cultivation in Alto Beni, Bolivia

Resilience research has been applied to socioeconomic as well as for agroecological studies in the last 20 years. It provides a conceptual and methodological approach for a better understanding of interrelations between the performance of ecological and social systems. In the research area Alto Beni, Bolivia, the production of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.), is one of the main sources of income. Farmers in the region have formed producers’ associations to enhance organic cocoa cultivation and obtain fair prices since the 1980s. In cooperation with the long-term system comparisons by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) in Alto Beni, aspects of the field trial are applied for the use in on-farm research: a comparison of soil fertility, biomass and crop diversity is combined with qualitative interviews and participatory observation methods. Fieldwork is carried out together with Bolivian students through the Swiss KFPE-programme Echanges Universitaires. For the system comparisons, four different land-use types were classified according to their ecological complexity during a preliminary study in 2009: successional agroforestry systems, simple agroforestry systems (both organically managed and certified), traditional systems and conventional monocultures. The study focuses on interrelations between different ways of cocoa cultivation, livelihoods and the related socio-cultural rationales behind them. In particular this second aspect is innovative as it allows to broaden the biophysical perspective to a more comprehensive evaluation with socio-ecological aspects thereby increasing the relevance of the agronomic field studies for development policy and practice. Moreover, such a socio-ecological baseline allows to assess the potential of organic agriculture regarding resilience-building face to socio-environmental stress factors. Among others, the results of the pre-study illustrate local farmers’ perceptions of climate change and the consequences for the different crop-systems: all interviewees mentioned rising temperatures and/or an extended dry season as negative impacts more with regard to their own working conditions than to their crops. This was the case in particular for conventional monocultures and in plots where slash-and-burn cultivation was practised whereas for organic agroforestry systems the advantage of working in the shade was stressed indicating that their relevance rises in the context of climate change.

Tree species and diversity effects on soil water seepage in a tropical plantation

Plant diversity has been shown to influence the water cycle of forest ecosystems by differences in water consumption and the associated effects on groundwater recharge. However, the effects of biodiversity on soil water fluxes remain poorly understood for native tree species plantations in the tropics. Therefore, we estimated soil water fluxes and assessed the effects of tree species and diversity on these fluxes in an experimental native tree species plantation in Sardinilla (Panama). The study was conducted during the wet season 2008 on plots of monocultures and mixtures of three or six tree species. Rainfall and soil water content were measured and evapotranspiration was estimated with the Penman-Monteith equation. Soil water fluxes were estimated using a simple soil water budget model considering water input, output, and soil water and groundwater storage changes and in addition, were simulated using the physically based one-dimensional water flow model Hydrus-1D. In general, the Hydrus simulation did not reflect the observed pressure heads, in that modeled pressure heads were higher compared to measured ones. On the other hand, the results of the water balance equation (WBE) reproduced observed water use patterns well. In monocultures, the downward fluxes through the 200 cm-depth plane were highest below Hura crepitans (6.13 mm day−1) and lowest below Luehea seemannii (5.18 mm day−1). The average seepage rate in monocultures (±SE) was 5.66 ± 0.18 mm day−1, and therefore, significantly higher than below six-species mixtures (5.49 ± 0.04 mm day−1) according to overyielding analyses. The three-species mixtures had an average seepage rate of 5.63 ± 0.12 mm day−1 and their values did not differ significantly from the average values of the corresponding species in monocultures. Seepage rates were driven by the transpiration of the varying biomass among the plots (r = 0.61, p = 0.017). Thus, a mixture of trees with different growth rates resulted in moderate seepage rates compared to monocultures of either fast growing or slow growing tree species. Our results demonstrate that tree-species specific biomass production and tree diversity are important controls of seepage rates in the Sardinilla plantation during the wet season.

La contribución de la producción del cacao orgánico a la resiliencia socio-ecológica en el contexto del cambio climático en el Alto Beni – La Paz

El cultivo del cacao en pequeña escala, sustento básico de muchas familias del Alto Beni, es afectado por los impactos del cambio climático. Para el desarrollo sostenible, es necesario que las fincas adquieran resiliencia: la capacidad de un sistema para reducir su sensibilidad hacia factores de estrés y perturbaciones, manteniendo su productividad, capacidad auto-organizativa, de aprendizaje y adaptación al cambio. Investigamos las diferencias en la resiliencia entre las fincas orgánicas y no orgánicas de cacao, y los rasgos significativos que inciden en la resiliencia socio-ecológica de los sistemas agrícolas del cacao. Definimos indicadores de resiliencia con expertos locales y productores durante un taller y con grupos focales. Los indicadores de la capacidad de amortiguación fueron: materia orgánica de los suelos, densidad aparente del suelo, e infestación con Moniliophthora perniciosa, diversidad arbórea, diversidad de cultivos, hormigas y fuentes de ingresos de las familias productoras. Los indicadores de auto-organización fueron: afiliación a organizaciones productoras, nivel de subsistencia, rendimientos de cacao e ingreso familiar anual. La capacidad de adaptación se evaluó indagando la cantidad de capacitaciones en que participaron las familias y la cantidad de fuentes de información que poseían. Entrevistamos 52 hogares: 30 orgánicos, 22 no orgánicos. Las fincas orgánicas en el área eran más diversificadas y rendían más. El ingreso familiar anual de las fincas orgánicas era sustancialmente mayor al de las no orgánicas. Probablemente el mayor rendimiento se debió principalmente a que los productores orgánicos participaron en más capacitaciones debido a su pertenencia a las organizaciones locales. Concluimos que las organizaciones locales de agricultura orgánica contribuyeron a crear resiliencia proporcionando servicios de extensión mediante el establecimiento de parcelas, creación de capacidades y seguros sociales