My post for Blog Action Day 2009 focuses the impact of traditional cocoa cultivation in climate change. Let me start with the concept of the forest rent. The term was first coined by French Agronomist François Ruf. Here’s what he found.
Although a shade tree by origin, farmers found that exposing the cocoa tree to light, i.e., cutting down forests, increased yield dramatically. A newly planted cocoa farm thus starts out very productive and has high yields. But exposure to light shortens the trees’ life. As trees age–their life expectancy ranges now down to as little as 20 years–their yield declines. At the same time, they become more vulnerable to pests and diseases. The amount of labor and chemicals required to keep trees producing increases accordingly.
