Theobroma Cacao, the cacao tree, has been cultivated in systems of agroforestry throughout MesoAmerica for several thousand years. Ancestors of modern farmers passed down the traditional practices of managing the growth of multiple species in a forest environment. What is now called Agroforestry is a practice with ancient roots and many generations of knowledge.

Agroforestry is a productive system which includes human benefit. Indigenous cacao farmers have co-developed with cacao for thousands of years and by incorporating plants that have use value for both the ecosystem and the farmers forms complex interconnectedness that we address only briefly here.

As a result of economic pressure cacao has increasingly been cultivated in full-sun monocultures in order to maximize short-term productivity and profitability. This trend towards monoculture has been associated with soil erosion and degradation, biodiversity loss, as well as increased susceptibility to climate change impacts and pests and diseases, in other words out of balance.

Agroforestry is studied as a science in many regions of the world. Like most of the mysteries presented to us by the universe, in the name of science we have spent huge effort in examining the details trying to demystify. Much remains out of reach when attempting to explain the surprising manifestation of interspecies cohabitation taking place in an Agroforestry system.

More than a third of the cacao grown globally comes from small farmers on the Ivory Coast, a small West African country. Close to half of that is grown illegally in the countries National Parks and protected forests. These farmers are in extremely vulnerable positions, many refugees from other regions of the continent and all at the mercy of the patrols requesting bribes. The fastest way to grow cacao is with slash and burn techniques, which have devastated nearly 80% of the forests in the country as of 2019. To cultivate monocultures farmers use a ‘full-sun’ system, requiring the removal of all surrounding trees.

Currently, most coffee and cocoa production in Mesoamerica occurs in agroforestry systems and share some of the same ‘favorite’ trees. Unlike the cacao tree native to MesoAmerica, coffee was brought by colonizers developing plantation systems on the stolen land of the Americas. The plants that produce coffee are native to Eastern Africa. After centuries of trading and the demand on the European market rising, plants were sent across the globe to establish growing regions under colonial control. We read a very interesting article* recently explaining how many farmers in MesoAmerica suggest replacing coffee with cacao as it has show greater resiliency to climate change. Is it because of relationship and world building that the theobromine tree has dedicated millennia to developing? With the changes in climate Agroforestry rises up as a very serious answer to how plants (and our pleasure in them) can adapt and thrive in the new conditions.

Biodiversity

Inter-species encounters* and eventually the co-development of thriving ecosystems is at the heart of Agroforestry. To encourage biodiversity is to nurture dynamic interactions that produce unique results. In the context of farming this can produce a number of benefits including higher quality yields and less investment in expensive inputs.

Carbon

A healthy Agroforestry system can sequester carbon at much higher rates than single species crop or pasture systems because of the dynamic utilization of resources like light, nutrients, and water. Recent studies** have shown that “tree-based agricultural systems, compared to treeless systems, stored more sequestered carbon in deeper soil layers near the tree than away from the tree and higher soil organic carbon content was associated with higher species richness"

Trees of Value

Productive fruiting trees provide additional food and stimulation to the local economy through trade. The same for fast growing trees, timber is sold on the market as a raw material. Scraps and any unsuitable varieties can provide firewood to fuel the farming family’s home. In addition to the beneficial relationships they develop with cacao trees, agroforestry many times offers the farmer multiple income streams from the ‘same’ land.

Ground Crops & Animals

Agroforestry can also provide a high level of productive subsistence crops for consumption by the farming family. These crops can also grow in complex relationship as we see in the Milpa tradition and provide important nutrition for the people living on the land. Thriving alongside the diverse plantlife, Agroforestry also encourages the interspecies relationships developed between animals and plants. Wild animals engage in crucial adventures like pollination and decomposition while ‘domesticated’ animals contribute by fertilizing the land and feeding the people.

Reduced ’Weed’ growth

As a result of interspecies relating, weed growth is minimized in an Agroforestry system. What is a weed anyway?! So many plants that are titled weeds are venerated herbs valued by ancestral healers for their beneficial attributes. Regardless, careful management of Agroforestry systems sees a reduction in unwanted varietals.

Reduced Dependency on Chemical Inputs

Because of the intricate interconnectedness of species in an Agroforestry system the need for chemical inputs greatly reduces. Fertilizers are replaced by co-developing plants like nitrogen fixing trees and shrubs. The need for pesticides and herbicides for the control of unwanted ‘weeds’ and insect pests is reduced by the encouragement of biodiverse environments and the increase of insect loving animals.

MicroClimate Creation

Producing climates unto themselves is one attribute of an Agroforestry system. According to World Agroforestry “Combining woody and non-woody plants in mixtures modifies microclimatic factors such as wind speed, air and tissue temperatures, relative humidity and radiation, saturation deficit of understory crops and consequently affecting evaporation. Therefore, compared to an open environment, the modified micro-climate under trees has reduced solar radiation, a more moderate temperature regime, higher humidity, lower rates of evapo-transpiration and higher soil moisture levels, affecting both crop growth and livestock performance”

Improved quality & flavor of cacao beans

Terroir is a French term used to describe the environmental factors that affect a crop, in the case of France it was originally used to describe grapes used for winemaking. It is now applied to several artisanal products like agave, coffee, peppers and chocolate. When thinking about the environment contexts, farming practices and a crop's specific growth habitat a unique character of the cacao arises and cacao grown more slowly as in an Agroforestry system results in a delicious expression of terroir, many times given the distinction of ‘fine aromatic cacao’.

Erosion Control

Agroforestry is fantastic at erosion control, something that monocultures suffer from so badly that many times farmers will abandon the land, deforestation repeats and the cycle of erosion worsens. Because of the extensive interconnectivity of species living in an Agroforestry System, a network of roots hold firm to the soil, wind and water are reduced by canopy layer and microfungi assist in the development of organic oils necessary for the continued resilience of the system.

Water Regulation

Many monoculture systems require huge water inputs and large irrigation investments on the part of the farmer. As climate change progresses we could see hotter and dryer years ahead adding additional strain to the fragile transport of water across arise monoculture landscapes. Agroforestry manages and recycles water through a system of retention and dispersal.

Nitrogen Fixing

“Without sufficient nitrogen, plants will fail and will be unable to grow. Nitrogen is abundant in the world, but most of the nitrogen in the world is a gas and most plants cannot use nitrogen as a gas. There are a few plants that love nitrogen gas, they are able to draw the nitrogen gas from the air and store it in their roots. These are called nitrogen fixing plants. They actually need help from a common bacteria called Rhizobium. The bacteria converts this nitrogen gas and then stores it in the roots of the plant.”*

Nutrient Cycling

“A nutrient cycle (or ecological recycling) is the movement and exchange of organic and inorganic matter back into the production of matter.The nutrient cycle is nature's recycling system. All forms of recycling have feedback loops that use energy in the process of putting material resources back into use. Recycling in ecology is regulated to a large extent during the process of decomposition. Ecosystems employ biodiversity in the food webs that recycle natural materials”**

Gracias to these resources for teaching us.

The Real Price of a Chocolate Bar: West Africa’s Rainforests’ 2019 Yale School of the Environment

'The Mushroom at the End of the World' A.L. Tsing

'Advances in Agronomy' Vol 108 20102