Abstract

JACOBI, Johanna et al. The contribution of organic cocoa production to the socio-ecological resilience in the context of climate change in the Alto Beni - La Paz. RevActaNova. [online]. 2014, vol.6, n.4, pp.351-383. ISSN 1683-0789.

The cultivation of cocoa in small scale basic livelihood of many families in the Alto Beni, is affected by the impacts of climate change. For sustainable development, it is necessary to acquire farm resilience: the ability of a system to reduce sensitivity to stresses and shocks, maintain productivity, self-organizing, learning, and ability to adapt to change. We investigate differences in resilience between organic and non-organic cocoa farms, and significant features affecting the socio-ecological resilience of agricultural systems of cacao. We define resilience indicators with local experts and producers during a workshop and focus groups. Indicators damping capacity were: soil organic matter, soil bulk density, and infestation with pernicious Moniliophthora, tree diversity, crop diversity, ants and livelihoods of farming families. Indicators of self-organization were producing membership organizations, subsistence level income from cocoa and annual household income. Adaptive capacity was evaluated investigating the amount of training that families and the number of sources of information they had participated. We interviewed 52 households: 30 organic, 22 non-organic. Organic farms in the area were more diversified and performed better. The annual family income of organic farms was substantially higher than in non-organic. Probably the best performance was mainly due to organic producers participated in more training because of their membership in local organizations. We conclude that local organic farming organizations contributed to resilience by providing extension services by establishing plots, capacity building and social insurance.

Keywords : social ecological resilience; Theobroma cacao; organic agriculture; agricultural biodiversity; agroforestry.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )