SOCIO-BIOECONOMIC EFFECTS OF THE TRANSITION OF COCOA CROPS IN AGROFORESTRY SYSTEMS TO FULL SUN ON THE TRANS-AMAZONIAN HIGHWAY
Cocoa farming; inclusive and sustainable value chain; family farming; local development; Amazon.
The cocoa production chain (Theobroma cacao) branches out from the adoption of two main distinct production systems – Agroforestry Systems (AFS) and Monoculture, also called full sun – reflecting an uneven spatio-temporal evolution of the main technological trajectories of cocoa production in the cocoa hub of the Transamazon, state of Pará. This master's research was guided by the following research question: what is the perception of the agents involved in the cocoa production chain about the transition from cocoa cultivation in an agroforestry system to the system in full sun? The objective of this study was to analyze the socioeconomic and environmental factors of the transition from cocoa crops in agroforestry systems to monocultures in full sun in some municipalities that are part of the Trans-Amazonian cocoa cluster. The data were connected through semi-structured questionnaires on sociodemographic, economic and environmental issues, applied online and in person. The results on the socio-bioeconomic characteristics of cocoa crops in AFS and cocoa in full sun show that there is strong evidence of socio-environmental competitive advantages for cocoa in AFS that are difficult to overcome, in the current and future conditions of the national and international consumer markets, by cocoa in full sun. The conclusion was that the interest in cocoa in SAF is based on the viability of the social (labor, cultural traditions, human capital formation and knowledge for decision-making) and environmental (climate regulation, soil humidity and fertility, biodiversity and less use of chemical inputs) dimensions, and in the case of cocoa in full sun the focus is on the economic dimension for higher productivity, use of chemical inputs and mechanization with implementation in degraded pasture areas.