Abstract
The current expansion of cacao cultivation in the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire is associated with deforestation, forest degradation, biodiversity loss and high greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Global concerns about emissions that are associated with tropical commodity production are increasing. Consequently, there is a need to change the present cacao-growing practice into a more climate-friendly cultivation system. A more climate-friendly system causes lower GHG emissions, stores a high amount of carbon in its standing biomass and produces high cacao yields. GHG emissions and carbon stocks associated with the present cacao production, as assessed in 509 farmers’ fields, were estimated by using the Perennial GHG model and the Cool Farm Tool. On average, the production of 1 kg cacao beans is associated with an emission of 1.47 kg CO2e. Deforestation contributed largely to GHG emissions, while tree biomass and residue management contributed mainly to carbon storage. The collected data combined with the model simulations revealed that it is feasible to produce relatively high yields while at the same time storing a high amount of carbon in the standing biomass and causing low GHG emissions. The climate-friendliness of cacao production is strongly related to farm management, especially the number of shade trees and management of residues. Calculated emissions related to good agricultural practices were 2.29 kg CO2e per kg cacao beans. The higher emissions due to the use of more agro-inputs and other residue management practices such as recommended burning of residues for sanitary reasons were not compensated for by higher yields. This indicates a need to revisit recommended practices with respect to climate change mitigation objectives.
Highlights
Sales of cacao provide income for millions of smallholders in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana
As there is a growing demand for environmentally friendly grown cacao while at the same time improving the livelihoods of smallholders in the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire, insights in the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions related to cacao yield are needed
We quantified the on field GHG emissions related to the cacao production by using and adjusting the perennial GHG model and the Cool Farm Tool (CFT) which gave outputs that are within the ranges found in other studies
Summary
Sales of cacao provide income for millions of smallholders in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana. As well as pod husks and other residues in the fields are commonly burnt or composted (van Vliet and Giller 2017) With all these different management options, the impact on the environment varies across plantations depending on the cultivation type (Recanati et al 2018). The contribution of inputs to the GHG emissions under GAP is relatively high with 3.4 kg CO2e compared to 0,001 kg CO2e per kg cacao under current practice. The larger contribution of residue management to GHG emissions using GAP is a result of burning infected fruits and composting cacao husks, while the current practice is to leave the infected fruits and husks on the soil (associated with negative emissions). The increase in cacao yield under GAP does not outweigh the increased GHG emissions, and cacao produced following GAP is associated with 2.29 kg CO2e per kg cacao (see Table 2), compared to 1.47 kg CO2e per kg cacao resulting from the current practice (see Table 1)
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