IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/agisys/v110y2012icp119-130.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Local knowledge of impacts of tree cover on ecosystem services in smallholder coffee production systems

Author

Listed:
  • Cerdán, C.R.
  • Rebolledo, M.C.
  • Soto, G.
  • Rapidel, B.
  • Sinclair, F.L.

Abstract

The potential for tree components of coffee agroforestry systems to provide ecosystem services is widely recognized. Management practices are a key factor in the amount and quality of ecosystem services provided. There is relatively abundant information on ecosystem services provision within agroforestry systems, but comparatively scant information regarding how coffee farmers manage their plantations, the factors influencing their farming practices and the extent to which farmers’ local knowledge – as opposed to global scientific understanding – underpins management decisions. Policymakers and scientists too frequently design development programs and projects in the coffee sector. On occasion technicians are included in the design process, but farmers and their knowledge are always excluded. This research explores farmers’ knowledge regarding how trees affect coffee productivity and ecosystem services in Costa Rica. Farmers’ knowledge on the effects of trees on coffee productivity was compared with that of other knowledge sources: coffee processors, technicians and scientists. Farmers were shown to have detailed knowledge regarding ecosystem services that their coffee agroforestry systems provide as well as on the interactions between trees and coffee productivity. When asked on the services that trees provide, farmers classified trees according to water protection, soil formation, or contribution to biodiversity conservation. These classifications were related to tree attributes such as leaf size, biomass production or root abundance. Comparison of coffee productivity knowledge from different knowledge sources revealed considerable complementarity and little contradiction.

Suggested Citation

  • Cerdán, C.R. & Rebolledo, M.C. & Soto, G. & Rapidel, B. & Sinclair, F.L., 2012. "Local knowledge of impacts of tree cover on ecosystem services in smallholder coffee production systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 119-130.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:agisys:v:110:y:2012:i:c:p:119-130
    DOI: 10.1016/j.agsy.2012.03.014
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308521X12000571
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.agsy.2012.03.014?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sinclair, F. L. & Walker, D. H., 1998. "Acquiring qualitative knowledge about complex agroecosystems. Part 1: Representation as natural language," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 56(3), pages 341-363, March.
    2. Isaac, Marney E., 2012. "Agricultural information exchange and organizational ties: The effect of network topology on managing agrodiversity," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 9-15.
    3. Walker, D. H. & Cowell, S. G. & Johnson, A. K. L., 2001. "Integrating research results into decision making about natural resource management at a catchment scale," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 69(1-2), pages 85-98.
    4. Walker, D. H. & Sinclair, F. L., 1998. "Acquiring qualitative knowledge about complex agroecosystems. Part 2: Formal representation," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 56(3), pages 365-386, March.
    5. Perfecto, Ivette & Vandermeer, John & Mas, Alex & Pinto, Lorena Soto, 2005. "Biodiversity, yield, and shade coffee certification," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(4), pages 435-446, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Héctor Eduardo Hernández & Gustavo Adolfo Gutiérrez & Isabel Gutiérrez-Montes & Juan Carlos Suárez & Hernán J. Andrade & Angie Paola Bernal & Fernando Casanoves & Cornelia Butler Flora, 2022. "How Close Are We to Self-Provisioning? A Look at the Livelihood Strategies of Rural Households in the Southern Andean Region of Colombia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-17, February.
    2. Valencia, Vivian & García-Barrios, Luis & Sterling, Eleanor J. & West, Paige & Meza-Jiménez, Amayrani & Naeem, Shahid, 2018. "Smallholder response to environmental change: Impacts of coffee leaf rust in a forest frontier in Mexico," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 463-474.
    3. Mai Phuong Nguyen & Philippe Vaast & Tim Pagella & Fergus Sinclair, 2020. "Local Knowledge about Ecosystem Services Provided by Trees in Coffee Agroforestry Practices in Northwest Vietnam," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-27, December.
    4. He, Siyuan & Gallagher, Louise & Su, Yang & Wang, Lei & Cheng, Hongguang, 2018. "Identification and assessment of ecosystem services for protected area planning: A case in rural communities of Wuyishan national park pilot," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 31(PA), pages 169-180.
    5. George Pavlidis & Vassilios A. Tsihrintzis, 2018. "Environmental Benefits and Control of Pollution to Surface Water and Groundwater by Agroforestry Systems: a Review," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 32(1), pages 1-29, January.
    6. Luedeling, Eike & Smethurst, Philip J. & Baudron, Frédéric & Bayala, Jules & Huth, Neil I. & van Noordwijk, Meine & Ong, Chin K. & Mulia, Rachmat & Lusiana, Betha & Muthuri, Catherine & Sinclair, Ferg, 2016. "Field-scale modeling of tree–crop interactions: Challenges and development needs," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 51-69.
    7. Rasch, Sebastian & Wünscher, Tobias & Casasola, Francisco & Ibrahim, Muhammad & Storm, Hugo, 2021. "Permanence of PES and the role of social context in the Regional Integrated Silvo-pastoral Ecosystem Management Project in Costa Rica," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    8. Adolfo Quesada-Román & Lilliam Quirós-Arias & Juan Carlos Zamora-Pereira, 2022. "Interactions between Geomorphology and Production Chain of High-Quality Coffee in Costa Rica," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-15, April.
    9. Villegas, Laura, 2017. "Shady Business: Why do Puerto Rican Coffee Farmers Adopt Conservation Agriculture Practices?," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 259136, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    10. Kevin Pello & Cedric Okinda & Aijun Liu & Tim Njagi, 2021. "Factors Affecting Adaptation to Climate Change through Agroforestry in Kenya," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-16, April.
    11. Galbraith, Sara M. & Hall, Troy E. & Tavárez, Héctor S. & Kooistra, Chad M. & Ordoñez, Jenny C. & Bosque-Pérez, Nilsa A., 2017. "Local ecological knowledge reveals effects of policy-driven land use and cover change on beekeepers in Costa Rica," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 112-122.
    12. Johanna Gather & Meike Wollni, 2022. "Setting the standard: Does Rainforest Alliance Certification increase environmental and socio‐economic outcomes for small‐scale coffee producers in Rwanda?," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 44(4), pages 1807-1825, December.
    13. Antonio Gabriel L. Resque & Emilie Coudel & Marie-Gabrielle Piketty & Nathalie Cialdella & Tatiana Sá & Marc Piraux & William Assis & Christophe Le Page, 2019. "Agrobiodiversity and Public Food Procurement Programs in Brazil: Influence of Local Stakeholders in Configuring Green Mediated Markets," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-22, March.
    14. Jeannine H. Richards & Ingrid M. Torrez Luna & Alberto Vargas, 2021. "“A Very Noble Crop”: Financial Stability, Agronomic Expertise, and Personal Values Support Conservation in Shade-Grown Coffee Farms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-21, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kandel, Matt & Anghileri, Daniela & Alare, Rahinatu S. & Lovett, Peter N. & Agaba, Genevieve & Addoah, Thomas & Schreckenberg, Kate, 2022. "Farmers’ perspectives and context are key for the success and sustainability of farmer-managed natural regeneration (FMNR) in northeastern Ghana," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    2. Laura Kmoch & Tim Pagella & Matilda Palm & Fergus Sinclair, 2018. "Using Local Agroecological Knowledge in Climate Change Adaptation: A Study of Tree-Based Options in Northern Morocco," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-17, October.
    3. McGregor, M. J. & Rola-Rubzen, M. F. & Murray-Prior, R., 2001. "Micro and macro-level approaches to modelling decision making," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 69(1-2), pages 63-83.
    4. Kaufmann, Brigitte A., 2011. "Second-order cybernetics as a tool to understand why pastoralists do what they do," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 104(9), pages 655-665.
    5. Sulser, T. B. & Duryea, M. L. & Frolich, L. M. & Guevara-Cuaspud, E., 2001. "A field practical approach for assessing biophysical sustainability of alternative agricultural systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 113-135, May.
    6. Walker, D. H. & Thorne, P. J. & Sinclair, F. L. & Thapa, B. & Wood, C. D. & Subba, D. B., 1999. "A systems approach to comparing indigenous and scientific knowledge: consistency and discriminatory power of indigenous and laboratory assessment of the nutritive value of tree fodder," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 87-103, November.
    7. Kosoy, Nicolás & Corbera, Esteve, 2010. "Payments for ecosystem services as commodity fetishism," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(6), pages 1228-1236, April.
    8. Beichen Ge & Congjin Wang & Yuhong Song, 2023. "Ecosystem Services Research in Rural Areas: A Systematic Review Based on Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-18, March.
    9. Takahashi, Ryo & Todo, Yasuyuki & Funaki, Yukihiko, 2018. "How Can We Motivate Consumers to Purchase Certified Forest Coffee? Evidence From a Laboratory Randomized Experiment Using Eye-trackers," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 107-121.
    10. Sinclair, F. L. & Walker, D. H., 1998. "Acquiring qualitative knowledge about complex agroecosystems. Part 1: Representation as natural language," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 56(3), pages 341-363, March.
    11. Jezeer, Rosalien E. & Santos, Maria J. & Verweij, Pita A. & Boot, René G.A. & Clough, Yann, 2019. "Benefits for multiple ecosystem services in Peruvian coffee agroforestry systems without reducing yield," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 40(C).
    12. Kitti, Mitri & Heikkilä, Jaakko & Huhtala, Anni, 2009. "‘Fair’ policies for the coffee trade – protecting people or biodiversity?," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(6), pages 739-758, December.
    13. Martinho, Vítor João Pereira Domingues, 2018. "Ranking the socioeconomic and environmental framework of European Union farms: A network analysis," EconStor Preprints 173285, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    14. Valkila, Joni, 2009. "Fair Trade organic coffee production in Nicaragua -- Sustainable development or a poverty trap?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(12), pages 3018-3025, October.
    15. Walker, Daniel H., 2002. "Decision support, learning and rural resource management," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 113-127, July.
    16. De Leijster, V. & Santos, M.J. & Wassen, M.W. & Camargo García, J.C. & Llorca Fernandez, I. & Verkuil, L. & Scheper, A. & Steenhuis, M. & Verweij, P.A., 2021. "Ecosystem services trajectories in coffee agroforestry in Colombia over 40 years," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    17. Ivan S. Adolwa & Stefan Schwarze & Imogen Bellwood-Howard & Nikolaus Schareika & Andreas Buerkert, 2017. "A comparative analysis of agricultural knowledge and innovation systems in Kenya and Ghana: sustainable agricultural intensification in the rural–urban interface," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(2), pages 453-472, June.
    18. Siew, Tuck Fatt, 2008. "Transferable decision-making procedure for integrated flood management: A theoretical approach to the micro studies of human decision-making and decision makers heuristics," Working Papers 49-2008, University of Freiburg, Chair of Forestry Economics and Planning.
    19. Andrea Pronti, 2017. "Agroecologia e agricoltura convenzionale a confronto. Un’analisi di sostenibilità socio-economica e ambientale nella produzione familiare di caffè in Brasile/Comparing agroecology and conventional agr," IRCrES Working Paper 201707, CNR-IRCrES Research Institute on Sustainable Economic Growth - Moncalieri (TO) ITALY - former Institute for Economic Research on Firms and Growth - Torino (TO) ITALY.
    20. Patrick Heidkamp & Dean Hanink & Robert Cromley, 2008. "A land use model of the effects of eco-labeling in coffee markets," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 42(3), pages 725-746, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:agisys:v:110:y:2012:i:c:p:119-130. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/agsy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.