High social and ecological standards for chocolate
Research team including agroecologists from Go"ttingen University study conditions in Peruvian cocoa agroforestry systems

Date:
October 19, 2020
Source:
University of Go"ttingen
Summary:
Worldwide demand for food from the tropics that meets higher
environmental and social standards has risen sharply in recent
years.

Consumers often have to make ethically questionable decisions:
products may be available through child labor, starvation wages or
environmental destruction. Building on an interdisciplinary project
in Peru, an international research team published an overview on
the transition to responsible, high-quality cocoa production.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Worldwide demand for food from the tropics that meets higher environmental
and social standards has risen sharply in recent years. Consumers
often have to make ethically questionable decisions: products may be
available to the global market through child labour, starvation wages
or environmental destruction.

Building on an interdisciplinary project in Peru, an international
research team with the participation of the University of Go"ttingen
has now published an overview article on the transition to responsible, high-quality cocoa production. Chocolate is made from cocoa beans, and
because cocoa is originally from Peru, using indigenous varieties means a premium price can be charged. A large cooperative for small-holder farmers
in northern Peru stands for social and ecological improvements with the
help of organic and fair-trade certification, as well as the cultivation
of native varieties in species-rich cocoa agroforestry systems. The
work was published as a "Perspective" article in the journal Trends in
Ecology and Evolution.


========================================================================== Shade trees in traditional cocoa agroforestry systems improve conditions
for cocoa growth and promote biodiversity, for instance of birds. However, these trees are increasingly being removed to increase productivity,
even though moderate, partial shade does not significantly reduce
productivity. In addition, proven high-yielding varieties are imported, although there are unique indigenous varieties in Peru that may be
associated with a particular trade advantage. The researchers' project
group is working together with the cooperative Norandino Ltda. in Piura, northern Peru, which is committed to working towards developing high
social and ecological standards. It represents 5,400 smallholder farmers
and stands for sustainable production that pursues both ecological and
economic goals. Furthermore, the cooperative is committed to fighting
all forms of discrimination. The result is ecologically certified and fair-trade chocolate of a high standard, which achieves up to twice
the regular market price, protects smallholder farmers against market fluctuations and moves towards the greater use of local cocoa bean
varieties in the future.

Dr Bea Maas, first author of the article and now at the University of
Vienna, emphasises: "Large cooperatives that stand for high social,
economic and ecological standards in production should receive more
support." Carolina Ocampo-Ariza and Professor Teja Tscharntke from the Agroecology group at the University of Go"ttingen add: "Such exemplary initiatives that benefit the livelihoods of smallholder farmers while maximising nature conservation should be the focus of interdisciplinary research now more than ever before."

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Go"ttingen. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Bea Maas, Evert Thomas, Carolina Ocampo-Ariza, Justine Vansynghel,
Ingolf
Steffan-Dewenter, Teja Tscharntke. Transforming Tropical
Agroforestry towards High Socio-Ecological Standards. Trends in
Ecology & Evolution, 2020; DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2020.09.002 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201019111915.htm

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