Economics and Ecology of Diversification The Case of Tropical Tree Crops

About this book

Language: English

The monoculture systems that have been encouraged by governments since the 1960s have led to major socio-economic and environmental crises. Now the diversification of tree crop systems is advancing throughout the tropics. Why and when does diversification take place? What categories of farmers diversify? What obstacles do they have to overcome, and how do public and private policies interfere in this process? How do land use systems and landscapes evolve as a result of this diversification? According to the authors of Economics and Ecology of Diversification, diversification is certainly a response to market risks, but also to the depletion of environmental resources. Ecological changes such as declining soil fertility and increasing pressure from pests, diseases and weeds intensify at the end of monoculture cycles, driving crop change and diversification of farming systems. Through 15 case studies from Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Pacific, the authors provide us with in-depth insights into the economy and ecology of family agriculture and its recent developments.

Contents

Introduction - Economic and ecological aspects of diversification of tropical tree crops; François Ruf and Götz Schroth

Chapter 1. Diversification of cocoa farms in Cote d'Ivoire: complementarity of and competition from rubber rent; François Ruf
Chapter 2. Coconut farmers and lethal yellowing disease: a case study in two villages in Ghana's Central region; Jean Ollivier, Philippe Courbet and Richard Democrite
Chapter 3. From the coffee-cocoa combination to oil palm cycles: the case of Dabou and Aboisso in Cote d'Ivoire; Vylie Tientcheu Sayam and Emmanuelle Cheyns
Chapter 4. Development of oil palm plantations and orange groves in the heart of the cocoa territory in eastern Ghana; Isabelle Michel-Dounias, Laure Steer, Emmanuelle Giry, Claude Jannot and Jean-Marie Kalms
Chapter 5. Rubber in the kingdom of cocoa. The south-west of Cote d'Ivoire in the 1990s; Armand Yao and Kouame Fiko
Chapter 6. Rubber: natural rent, capitalization rent? West-central Cote d'Ivoire and southern Thailand; François Ruf, Benedicte Chambon, Chaiya Kongmanee
Chapter 7. From Firestone to Michelin, a history of rubber cultivation in a cocoa-growing country: Ghana; Emmanuel Akwasi Owusu and François Ruf
Chapter 8. Extensive fish farming, a complementary diversification of plantation economies; Marc Oswald
Chapter 9. Determinants in the choice of perennial crops in diversified production systems of rubber growers in south-western Cameroon; Benedicte Chambon and Simon Gobina Mokoko
Chapter 10. Socio-economic conditions of horticultural diversification in cocoa production systems in southern Cameroon; Ludovic Temple and Jules-Rene Minkoua Nzie
Chapter 11. Agroforestry-based diversification for planting cocoa in the savannah of central Cameroon; Patrick Jagoret, Frank Enjalric and Eric Malezieux
Chapter 12. Diversifying Central American coffee agroforestry systems via revenue of shade trees; Philippe Vaast, Mario Martinez, Axelle Boulay, Benito Dzib Castillo and Jean-Michel Harmand
Chapter 13. Coconut- and cocoa-based agroforestry systems in Vanuatu: a diversification strategy in tune with the farmers' life cycle; Laurene Feintrenie, Frank Enjalric and Jean Ollivier
Chapter 14. The place of cocoa and coconut cultivation in family plantations in peninsular Malaysia; Pierre Dupraz and Murielle Morisson
Chapter 15. Diversification and perennial-crop cycles in Aceh, Indonesia; Florie Paul, François Ruf and Yoddang

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