Marc Cotter

Diversifizierte Agroforstsysteme sind eine produktive Alternative zu Kakaomonokulturen und steigern die Nachhaltigkeit sowohl von Biokakao als auch von konventionellen Systemen. Ihre Produktivität muss an der Gesamtheit der Produkte gemessen werden. Sie leisten einen Beitrag zum dringend notwendigen Wandel hin zu einer nachhaltigen und regenerativen Landwirtschaft im Hinblick auf Klimawandel, Biodiversitätsverlust, Entwaldung und Bodendegradation.

Given the rapid changes in tropical agricultural production, the evaluation of different management practices has gained interest to determine the effects of land-use change on biodiversity. The conversion of forests into agricultural land is one of the main drivers of diversity loss. Agroforestry systems have been shown as a promising option to provide suitable yields in addition to conserving biodiversity. In this study we compared species richness and community composition of terrestrial ants in six different systems in a long-term experimental site established in 2009 in Bolivia: a full-sun monoculture and an agroforestry system under conventional management, a full-sun monoculture and an agroforestry system under organic management, a highly diverse and dense agroforestry system without external inputs and a secondary forest. Using pitfall traps, we sampled ants four times during a seven-year period (2015 …

SysCom was initiated to provide evidence for the performance and viability of organic agricultural cropping systems in the tropics. While case studies and long term studies were available for temperate zones, little scientifically backed-up evidence was available to assess the potential of organic agriculture in sustainable development in countries within the tropical climate. Thus in 2007 long term trials in India, Bolivia and Kenya were established, comparing in each country two organic systems with two conventional systems based on locally relevant cropping systems and main crops (cotton, cocoa, maize). Combining the existing practical examples and recommendations from local agricultural institutions organic and conventional treatment were designed, putting high emphasis on the local relevancy and prevalent practices. After the systems established it became clear that organic systems in our long-term experiments (LTEs) were lacking behind in profitability and productivity, not offering a valuable approach for local farmers to sustain their livelihoods. In our analysis we had to realise that often a mere copy of conventional practices, substituting conventional with organic inputs would not suffice to provide solid evidence on the potential of organic agriculture in the tropics. Using the example of the SysCom program, we want to discuss the challenges and opportunities of adapting LTEs, confronting questions on how to adapt the three LTEs implemented in different countries to still be in nexus to each other, how to balance systems approaches to optimise the different compared treatments while still being comparable to each other and finally …

Following severe forest loss in recent decades, Southeast Asian countries are increasingly employing social forestry as a means to ensure the sustainable development of their forest-dwelling communities. Given the potential of agroforestry to provide multiple ecosystem services, habitat for the maintenance of biodiversity, and the economic and social development of communities that cultivate them, many civil society organizations and NGOs involved are turning to agroforestry to achieve the goals of social forestry. However, implementing agroforesty per se may not be sufficient if agroforestry systems are not adequately diversified to meet management goals and limited tools exist that facilitate appropriate species selection in diversification. Here we review the potential of diversified agroforestry for social forestry and similar schemes, critically evaluating its advantages and challenges, before detailing two …

SysCom was initiated to provide evidence for the performance and viability of organic agricultural cropping systems in the tropics. While case studies and long term studies were available for temperate zones, little scientifically backed-up evidence was available to assess the potential of organic agriculture in sustainable development in countries within the tropical climate. Thus in 2007 long term trials in India, Bolivia and Kenya were established, comparing in each country two organic systems with two conventional systems based on locally relevant cropping systems and main crops (cotton, cocoa, maize). Combining the existing practical examples and recommendations from local agricultural institutions organic and conventional treatment were designed, putting high emphasis on the local relevancy and prevalent practices. After the systems established it became clear that organic systems in our long-term experiments (LTEs) were lacking behind in profitability and productivity, not offering a valuable approach for local farmers to sustain their livelihoods. In our analysis we had to realise that often a mere copy of conventional practices, substituting conventional with organic inputs would not suffice to provide solid evidence on the potential of organic agriculture in the tropics. Using the example of the SysCom program, we want to discuss the challenges and opportunities of adapting LTEs, confronting questions on how to adapt the three LTEs implemented in different countries to still be in nexus to each other, how to balance systems approaches to optimise the different compared treatments while still being comparable to each other and finally how …

Ist der Ökologische Landbau eine Antwort auf die Düngemittelkrise? Ergebnisse von 15 Jahren Langzeitforschung in den Tropen.

Socio-ecological resilience (SeR) is an integral aspect in enhancing farm system sustainability and this integration is being widely adopted in recent years in development projects. Multiple indicators are used to assess socio ecological resilience of suggested solutions in farming systems or, to design projects with an aim to ultimately enhance SeR. However, the indicators or the suggested solutions remain largely technical; often overlooking the role that social solutions or power relations play in the long term in farming systems sustainability. There is growing evidence indeed that unequal power relations in agriculture are a threat to food security worldwide. Hence, there is a need to focus on equity when determining indicator or when developing solutions for sustainable food systems. We set up a long-term farming systems programme in 2007 in three tropical countries (India, Kenya and Bolivia) to compare organic and conventional management systems across multiple parameters. In all the countries we have been working with small-scale farmers on specific cropping systems (cotton, cacao and maize). The approaches of our programme have been interdisciplinary fo- cusing on all the way from fundamental agronomic questions to participatory farmer research. Over the years multiple studies and analysis have been conducted within our programme to understand the socio-ecological dimensions of sustainable farming practices in our study areas. We will present compiled learnings of these studies with a focus on two of our study regions, India and Bolivia. We will particularly summarise the role that factors such as farmer networks, farmer …

Cocoa is mainly managed by smallholder farmers in the tropics and constitutes one of the most important export commodities, being an important source of income. Lately, conventional cocoa monoculture has been promoted to achieve high short-term productivity at the expense of deforestation. However, such systems have negatively affected the water cycle with more intense heavy rains and longer drought periods, which is threatening food security and human welfare. In that sense, the perception that farmers have on climate change is determinant to the adoption and implementation of adaptation measures and policies in agriculture. Thus, it is imperative a more agroecological approach to answer the question whether and to what extent cocoa farmers perceive and adapt their farming practices to the climatic variations, in conjunction with water use estimations of cocoa systems under different management. As such, the present study includes an analysis of farming practices’ adaptations to climate change and a comparison of evapotranspiration in cocoa cultivation under different management. In Bolivia, traditional cocoa production systems include shade trees. Particularly, cocoa agroforestry systems managed organically have proven to have smaller water footprint and are considered an effective nature-based solution to address climate change, biodiversity loss, food insecurity and rural poverty among other environmental and social challenges of this value chain. This study sought to assess evapotranspiration as a measure of water use in conventional monocultures and organic agroforestry systems in a long-term field trial in tropical …