RESEARCH NEEDS FOR SUSTAINABLE COCOA PRODUCTION IN GHANA

Climate change mitigation and adaptation are often mentioned as benefits of agroforestry systems. Mitigation refers to the increased carbon sequestration compared to monoculture systems, which is a global benefit in reducing atmospheric carbon concentrations. Climate change adaptation is a more local benefit and refers to the increased resilience of shaded systems to the effects of climate change. When the farmers are aware of climate change and the threats it poses to their farms, this could increase motivation to turn to shaded systems. However, increased awareness could also result in a shift to other, less sensitive, crops (Anon., personal communication).

Many farmers in Ghana already see the effects of changing weather on their farms, such as tree mortality due to heath. It is not clear to what extent they relate this to climate change and whether they perceive the benefits of shaded systems (Anon., personal communication). Increased awareness on climate change should go hand in hand with training in adaptation to climate change (Anon., personal communication). However, The use of shade trees to reduce the impact of climate change is questioned by Läderach et al. (2013) because it might increase competition for resources. At the same time it could help farmers diversify their livelihoods to reduce dependency on cocoa cultivation when this is severely affected by climate change.