Agriculture and Environment: Cocoa

Environmental impacts of production: Soil degradation

Cocoa cultivation often exposes soils when forest vegetation is removed prior to planting

Erosion occurs as plantations are established and even during their early years. Once plants mature and tree canopies are re-established, erosion rates decline.

However, studies show that foliage cover is not as complete even in traditional cocoa plantations as it is within natural forests, implying that erosion rates are likely to be higher in cocoa agroforestry plots than in natural forests. Because the leaves of cocoa do not decompose quickly, they can suppress other vegetation. This could make soils more susceptible to erosion.

In addition to erosion, soils in cocoa plantations experience a loss of fertility. Nutrients are exported from plantations in the form of seedpods, but more importantly, the loss of ground cover probably lead to increased leaching. The biotic and soil components of the Nigerian tropical forests where cocoa is being produced have deteriorated considerably (Ekanade 1987).

This, in fact, suggests why cocoa plantations must be moved periodically to more fertile, virgin forest areas. However, instead of allowing the forests to regenerate in some form, most abandoned cocoa plantations are cleared and used for conventional agriculture. In this sense, cocoa production is merely the first step in the ultimate deforestation of an area even though the cycle may take 25 years or more to complete.