Ecological and economic sustainability of cocoa agroforests in Brazil

Public thesis defense of Steffi Dekegel: "Ecological and economic sustainability of cocoa agroforests in Brazil" 

Summary

Global value chains for tropical agricultural commodities are widely associated with environmental degradation and persistent socio-economic challenges for small-scale producers in biodiversity-rich regions. Agroforestry systems (AFS) are increasingly promoted as nature-based solutions to reconcile agricultural production, biodiversity conservation, and rural livelihoods. 

However, substantial within-system variation exists in AFS management, especially regarding farmers’ decisions to retain or remove shade trees. Yet, empirical evidence on how such variation shapes ecological and economic outcomes, and on how governance instruments can valorise and incentivise their sustainable management, remains limited. 

This dissertation addresses these gaps through an in-depth analysis of cocoa agroforestry systems (CAFS) in southern Bahia, Brazil. Combining ecological field data, household-level economic surveys, and qualitative interviews, it examines i) how shade-tree management in CAFS shapes ecological-economic trade-offs and synergies, and ii) the role of the Sul da Bahia Geographical Indication (GI) for high-quality cocoa in promoting the economic and ecological sustainability of CAFS.

The findings demonstrate that shade-tree removal negatively affects biodiversity and that current legal shade-tree retention thresholds are insufficient for biodiversity conservation in CAFS. Economically, higher shade-tree densities are associated with lower cocoa yields but also with reduced production costs, resulting in limited economic trade-offs. Integrating ecological and economic dimensions reveals that synergies can emerge under specific conditions, but that shade-tree retention alone is insufficient. Such synergies require supportive social and institutional contexts beyond the farm-level. Finally, the Sul da Bahia GI delivers limited farm-level economic or ecological benefits due to weak implementation and limited market uptake. 

Overall, this dissertation demonstrates that ecological–economic trade-offs are not inevitable in AFS and highlights the need for legal and governance instruments that explicitly incentivize and reward shade-tree maintenance in AFS.

Jury members

Prof. Goedele Van den Broeck (UCLouvain) (Promoteur)
Dr. Leonardo Oliveira (UESC) (Co-promoteur)
Dr. Kristel De Vleeschouwer (ZOO Antwerp CRC) (Co-promoteur)
Prof. Frédéric Gaspart (UCLouvain) (Président)
Prof. Patrick Meyfroidt (UCLouvain) (Secrétaire)
Prof. Miet Maertens (KU Leuven) 
Dr. Katharina Krumbiegel (JRC European Commission)
Dr. Zjef Pereboom (ZOO Antwerp CRC)