Melissa Morcote Martinez

University of Hohenheim,

Institute of  Social and Institutional Change in Agricultural Development

Cocoa is mainly managed by smallholder farmers in the tropics, and it is a major export. A climate-changing scenario with intense heavy rains and longer drought periods is threatening among other crops cocoa production. Thus, it is imperative to design participatory research together with cocoa farmers and cooperatives to cope with threats due to changes in rainfall distribution.

Particularly in Bolivia traditional cocoa production systems include the use of shade trees. However it is also known that the establishment of full sun systems has been promoted to achieve high short-term productivity at the expense of deforestation, despite more intensive systems are known to negatively affect the water cycle.

This study intends to identify water-related management issues and their impacts on local rural livelihoods across smallholder cocoa production systems. using a participatory approach. In addition, meteorological data will be used to complement data from the participatory research methods. Thus, options to overcome challenges can be assessed, according to labour requirements, rainfall distribution, food security and the role of cooperatives. In this way, an assessment framework can be designed to identify strategies for the resilience of small-scale cocoa systems providing orientation for farmers ‘decision making in Bolivia.