The economics of cocoa-fruit agroforests in Southern Cameroon

Abstract

The cocoa and fruit agroforests of southern Cameroon are among the most sustainable land-use systems in the forest zone of West and Central Africa. The middle and upper strata shade cocoa, recycle nutrients and produce many useful products. Indigenous fruit trees such as African plum (Dacryodes edulis), bush mango (Irvingia gabonenis) and njansang (Ricinodendron heudolotii) together with exotics such as (Citrus spp.), mango (Mangifera indica), guava (Psidium guajava) and avocado (Persea americana) make an important contribution to local diets and provide additional sources of income to local households. However, soil fertility and weed pressure are technical problems that must be overcome if cocoa agroforests are to be established in the Chromolaena odorata thickets that characterize the short fallow land uses in West Africa. Fertilizer supplementation and increased labor will be required for weed control, particularly during the establishment phase, yet fertilizer use is not currently practiced in cocoa agroforests in southern Cameroon, as cost and availability limit its use.