Abstract
Cacao cultivation is rapidly increasing in Latin America under the influence of public policies and external markets. In Ecuador, the cultivated surface of high quality cacao trees has doubled in the last 50 years, creating great expectations in neighboring countries. Here, we investigated the social-ecological sustainability of cacao-based agroforestry systems in four rural Amazonian highlands communities in eastern Ecuador, close to the region where cacao was once domesticated. Kichwa- and Shuar-speaking groups were interviewed by adapting Ostrom’s institutional diagnostic framework for social-ecological systems. Through a set of specifically created indicator variables, we identified key interactions and outcomes to understand the fragility and the sustainability of those communities. The studied communities were fairly young, with land rights secured less than 30 years ago in most cases. Per-family surfaces were very restricted (typically one hectare) and plots were divided between cash producing crops and their own home food. The small production per household goes through a precarious commercialization by both intermediaries and cooperatives, making the cacao bean production merely sufficient for pocket money. Ties with specialist producers in one community close to the capital has promoted the use of native cacao lines. Elsewhere, improved varieties of high productivity are planted along native trees being commercialized indistinctly. The continuity of these communities currently depend on a reorganization of their demography with parts of the population working elsewhere, as cacao bean production alone will continue to be insufficient, and will compete with their food self-sufficiency.
Highlights
Latin American countries have a long history of providing commodities to northern countries, a situation that has shaped and continues to shape the social, economic, and land use choices of the region
These migrations, resulting from the colonization of their own territories after the agrarian reforms, obliged them to start afresh by incorporating new economic activities for which they had little or no experience into this process. These rural movements were composed of indigenous organizations and marginalized communities from all regions in the country, but especially from the Amazon area
Our study found that the governance system of native cacao trees is quite weak or non-existent and that it depends more on external markets that actively search a stable production of Criollo or Nacional, like in Santa Rita
Summary
Latin American countries have a long history of providing commodities to northern countries, a situation that has shaped and continues to shape the social, economic, and land use choices of the region. The demand for commodities has occurred in successive waves involving quinine, rubber, coffee, and cacao, among others, during the past three centuries [4]. Agroforestry—or the integration of trees in farms and agricultural landscapes to diversify and sustain production [5]—is one of the most important land uses in Latin America, and predates European colonization [3]. Agroforestry may cover more than 300 million hectares in the region, mostly but not exclusively involving shaded tree-crop systems of coffee and cacao [6]. One of the most sought-after commodities from agroforestry systems is the cacao bean, because of the ever-increasing market for chocolate and chocolate-derived products
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