The shift in cocoa production in recent decades toward simplified farming systems (for instance monocultures and increased use of synthetic inputs), largely driven by the goal of maximising yields, initially proved effective. However, over time, inadequate management has had several adverse effects, including declining soil health.

Soil health, as defined by the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils, is the ability of soils to sustain the productivity, diversity, and environmental services of terrestrial ecosystems. Despite its importance, farmers and advisers rarely conduct soil health monitoring and assessment due to resource or knowledge constraints; as a result, they are unaware of soil conditions, which continue to deteriorate, affecting human and environmental health.

Given cocoa's importance to local economies and ecosystems, a framework for monitoring and assessing soil health at the farm level is urgently needed. To address this, FiBL launched the project "Soil health monitoring and assessment framework in cocoa farms", funded by the Lindt Cocoa Foundation, to provide farmers and their advisers with such a framework.

As a first step to involve stakeholders in developing the soil health framework, FiBL recently brought together experts for an online workshop. The goal was to showcase existing soil health assessment tools and select scientifically valid soil health indicators to inform a simple soil health framework. Participants included national and international experts from research, academia, and development in the fields of cocoa and soil health. The workshop will be repeated later this year.

If you are interested in being involved in the framework development or joining the workshops, please contact the project team.

David Bautze

fibl.org: Project "Soil health in cocoa production" in the FiBL project database