Research Article: Robbins, P., Chhatre, A., & Karanth, K. (2015). Political ecology of commodity agroforests and tropical biodiversity. Conservation Letters, 8(2), 77-85. https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12169

Blog Author: Vinni Jain

Key Takeaways:

  • Agroforests, a combination of trees, shrubs, and crops, have enormous potential for conserving biodiversity whilst also providing livelihoods in tropical areas.
  • The ability of an agroforest to contain biodiversity is dependent on a variety of factors, from local ecological conditions on the farm, farmer operational choices, to larger political and economic forces.
  • Farmer choices such as labor inputs, intensity of farming, intercropping can influence the type and quality of habitats available for wildlife such as birds, amphibians and reptiles.
  • If market prices for crops, for example, coffee, are volatile and prone to fluctuations, farmers tend to shift to more intensive farming methods which can be more profitable and less money intensive.
  • More intensive farming makes traditionally complex agroforests more simplified and less hospitable to certain species 
  • There is not enough information on how larger forces like market regulation, price supports, scale of production, affect farm-scale diversity. 
  • The paper highlights the needs for more integrated research on how different variables affect biodiversity in agroforests.

 

Coffee, cacao, rubber, arecanut and other crops in tropical regions are commonly grown under the shade of trees alongside other shrubs and plants. This amalgamation of trees, shrubs, and agriculture which resembles forests, but is also used for food production, is called agroforestry. As global food requirements increase, and land is progressively deforested for agricultural purposes, agroforestry poses a promising tool to reduce biodiversity loss in the tropics. 

The layered canopy that overshadows coffee plants, combined with the rich undergrowth, creates a rich variety of heterogeneous habitats that can support populations of endemic  insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals, etc. However, the ability of these agroforests to support wildlife can vary based on several factors, from local ecological conditions to larger-scale regional politics and economic policies. 

In a review paper published in Conservation Letters, scientists from University of Wisconsin Madison, Indian School of Business, Wildlife Conservation Society and Centre for Wildlife Studies examined existing research done on commodity agroforests to outline the processes driving the diversity and densities of wildlife species found in commodity agroforests, and to highlight research gaps. 

Some of the main factors determining the habitats available for biodiversity in agricultural landscapes are the on-ground agroecological conditions, such as canopy density, crop mixes, and intercropping. The farmers also make operational choices which affect plantation conditions, such as the amount of labor force used, the degree of technological inputs, and intensity of farming. These choices made by farmers are further influenced by larger political and economic forces such as commodity prices, laws, labor and transportation costs, etc. 

For example, if global coffee prices were to reduce, farmers could respond to this market change by intensifying coffee production, opening tree canopies, and using higher amounts of pesticides and fertilizers to increase yield and make up for lost profit margins. This may, in turn, lead to a reduction in tree-dwelling species such as birds that require a canopy, or amphibians that are sensitive to chemicals. Additionally, if there is a shortage of labor available to manage trees in plantations, farmers may remove trees, again leading to reduced habitats for wildlife. 

In their review, the researchers found some well-understood and established patterns in commodity agroforestry production. Firstly, there were a variety of structural decisions made by producers across the world, with varying impacts on biodiversity levels. Secondly, there was a common tendency for people to shift to more intensive production methods for livelihood-related reasons. Third, the more intensive production made traditionally complex agroforestry systems more simplified and led to changes in biodiversity levels. 

However, they also found that certain factors affecting agroforests were less well-explored. It was still unknown how tenure, crop types, price supports from state institutions, labor scarcity, third-party certification, diversification of income sources by farmers, and alternative trade systems affect farm-scale ecosystem structure and biodiversity-relevant outcomes. The effect of larger political and economic forces also remains unclear. 

In conclusion, the authors highlighted that most existing studies were done at small or regional scales using case studies, rather than larger and broader political-economic explorations. To truly understand each component of the process linking agroforests and biodiversity, there is a need to integrate work from different disciplines, such as Agricultural and Applied Economics, Geography, Development, and Conservation Biology. This would lead to exciting, interdisciplinary, and rigorous research, which can be applied to maximize biodiversity in the tropics. 

 

Key words: coffee, agroforests, biodiversity, crops, labor, farming systems

You can access the original article here.