Abstract
Drawing on the awareness of consequence literature, this paper unpacks how the awareness of the consequences of full-sun cocoa production can encourage farmers to adopt shaded cocoa agroforestry that preserves the land and favours better cocoa farm waste management. Using Ghana as a case study, the paper provides distinctive insights on how shaded cocoa agroforestry systems provide sustainable yields in the medium- to long-term, relative to unshaded systems. We also find that cocoa farmers’ awareness of consequences about the effects of undertaking unshaded cocoa production could make individual farmers exhibit pro-environmental behaviour, leading to the adoption of cocoa agroforestry systems that help preserve soil fertility and improve waste management. We recommend that the utilization of awareness of consequence protocols, coupled with the efficient diffusion of information on the benefits of agroforestry in terms of waste management and environmental improvements to the cocoa farmers, could increase the adoption of shaded cocoa production regimes in Ghana.
Highlights
Sustainable innovations remain a pivotal competitive weapon in today’s fast-changing global environment as the needs of consumers for environmentally sustainable products and services increases [1,2]
Based on the different cocoa systems being practiced, we selected a total of 91 farmers to assess how the awareness of consequence influenced their adoption of a shaded cocoa agroforestry system
The findings of this study have shown that when farmers are confronted with the consequences of their unsustainable activities, behaviour change is likely engendered towards proenvironmental production systems such as shaded cocoa agroforestry, especially when farmers become aware of the direct effects of this system on waste management and their economic status and livelihoods
Summary
Sustainable innovations remain a pivotal competitive weapon in today’s fast-changing global environment as the needs of consumers for environmentally sustainable products and services increases [1,2]. Because cocoa is an understorey plant in its natural habitat, it is very sensitive to extreme environmental conditions, such as light and temperature (above 30 ◦ C), which reduce the photosynthetic mechanism of the leaves and damage the flowers, affecting the physiology and long-term sustainable yield [9]. Against this backdrop, this study seeks to understand the role of consequence awareness in the cocoa agroforestry system adoption in the context of Ghana’s cocoa industry. The cocoa industry earns Ghana around 2 billion Ghanaian Cedi (about 340 million USD) per year and is the source of livelihood for 6.3 million Ghanaians, it is experiencing serious ecological challenges that require urgent effort on the part of all relevant stakeholders to minimise negative effects on production and livelihoods [10]
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