ABSTRACT
Analysis and design of the shade canopy of cocoa-based agroforestry systems Eduardo Somarriba, CATIE, Costa Rica; Luis Orozco-Aguilar, University of Melbourne, Australia; Rolando Cerda, CATIE, Costa Rica; and Arlene López-Sampson, James Cook University, Australia
1 Introduction
2 Cocoa shade typologies
3 A four-step guide for analysis of the shade canopy
4 Designing improved shade canopies
5 Future needs: a call for action
6 Where to look for further information
7 Acknowledgements
8 References
Agroforestry (AF), the art and science of farming with trees (Van Noordwijk et al., 2016; Torquebiau, 2000) covers 800-1000 million ha worldwide (Nair et al., 2009; Zomer et al., 2009). Shaded tree-crop systems [involving crops such as coffee (Coffea spp.) and cacao (Theobroma cacao L.)] are prominent examples of AF systems. Three million smallholders cultivate 7-8 million ha of cacao worldwide (www.worldcocoafoundation.org), with at least 80% of the cacao cultivated under a shade tree canopy, that is, in AF systems (Somarriba et al., 2012). Cocoa-based AF systems have been top-ranked as land use alternatives to cope with climate change because of their high levels of species diversity, year-round soil cover, high levels of stored carbon in both the soil and wood (above and below ground biomass) and other desirable attributes (Cerda et al., 2014; Harvey et al., 2014; Vaast and Somarriba, 2014; Tscharntke et al., 2011).
