Abstract
The scientific community has recognized the importance of integrating farmer’s perceptions and knowledge (FPK) for the development of sustainable pest and disease management strategies. However, the knowledge gap between indigenous and scientific knowledge still contributes to misidentification of plant health constraints and poor adoption of management solutions. This is particularly the case in the context of smallholder farming in developing countries. In this paper, we present a case study on coffee production in Uganda, a sector depending mostly on smallholder farming facing a simultaneous and increasing number of socio-ecological pressures. The objectives of this study were (i) to examine and relate FPK on Arabica Coffee Pests and Diseases (CPaD) to altitude and the vegetation structure of the production systems; (ii) to contrast results with perceptions from experts and (iii) to compare results with field observations, in order to identify constraints for improving the information flow between scientists and farmers. Data were acquired by means of interviews and workshops. One hundred and fifty farmer households managing coffee either at sun exposure, under shade trees or inter-cropped with bananas and spread across an altitudinal gradient were selected. Field sampling of the two most important CPaD was conducted on a subset of 34 plots. The study revealed the following findings: (i) Perceptions on CPaD with respect to their distribution across altitudes and perceived impact are partially concordant among farmers, experts and field observations (ii) There are discrepancies among farmers and experts regarding management practices and the development of CPaD issues of the previous years. (iii) Field observations comparing CPaD in different altitudes and production systems indicate ambiguity of the role of shade trees. According to the locality-specific variability in CPaD pressure as well as in FPK, the importance of developing spatially variable and relevant CPaD control practices is proposed.
Highlights
Natural and social scientists have emphasized the need to incorporate farmers’ perceptions and knowledge (FPK) into research programs in order to establish and successfully implement sustainable pest and disease management strategies [1,2,3,4]
Participatory Rural Appraisals and classification of existing coffee production systems For all locations along the altitudinal gradient, pests and diseases were ranked as the major constraint for coffee production, followed by low soil fertility, lack of extension services, and changes in weather patterns
Clustering of the vegetation structure of coffee plots resulted in three different coffee production systems classified as coffee-banana system (CB), coffee-open-canopy system (CO) and Coffee-Tree System (CT), whereas the CO system shows lowest, and the CT system highest shade levels (Table 3)
Summary
Natural and social scientists have emphasized the need to incorporate farmers’ perceptions and knowledge (FPK) into research programs in order to establish and successfully implement sustainable pest and disease management strategies [1,2,3,4]. In most coffee producing countries, a large proportion of production depends on smallholder farming and is exposed to simultaneous and interdependent challenges of social, ecological and economic nature [28]. One of those challenges is climate change, faced by coffee farmers worldwide. Coffee Pests and Diseases (CPaD) which are already troublesome under the current climate are likely to be aggravated by the effects of climate change and variability. They could entail serious implications for the coffee sector. Beneficial and detrimental shade effects result in trade-offs between climate change mitigation, adaptation and livelihood benefits at different scales which have to be investigated [50]
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