Research topic:

Water, labor and food in organic agroforestry systems and monocultures: how can an assessment framework be designed to find resilience pathways for small-scale cocoa farmers and their cooperatives in Bolivia?

Main discipline and other relevant disciplines:

Main discipline: Social Sciences
Other relevant disciplines: Agricultural Development, Agroecology, Agricultural Economics

Target region or country (if applicable):

Bolivia (Alto Beni cacao producing region)

Topic background information / scientific relevance:

Cocoa (Theobroma cacao) farming systems are highly susceptible to climate change impacts, especially in monoculture cropping systems. According to scientific reviews organic cocoa production in agroforestry systems is more resilient. Total system yields are about ten times higher compared to monocultures, especially in dynamic agroforestry systems, which can contribute to food security, improved nutrition and diversified incomes. Challenges lie in lack of immediate economic returns, high labor requirement and costs, need for expert knowledge and lower cocoa yields. To identify integrated coping strategies and pathways to resilience, it is fundamental to understand the described trade-offs, to analyze how these trade-offs are impacted by climate change effects and what role cooperatives can play to reduce them. However, limited knowledge exists due to a lack of inter-disciplinary studies.

In Bolivia, where cocoa production is important for rural livelihoods, main risks of climatic change include changing rainfall patterns (floods and droughts). Changes in rainfall distribution are influencing flowering times, pollinator activities, cropping calendars, as well as pressure from pests and diseases. Heavy rains pose significant threats to plantations, harvested products and infrastructure. The consequences are bared by poor farmers and rural inhabitants, who already have been suffering from the widespread malnutrition, which goes along with seasonality and related labor demand and high work burden. It is of upmost importance to tackle water issues through farmer’s empowerment and collective action by identifying integrative resilience pathways. Participatory research with cooperatives and farmers plays a central role in this.

Research objectives:

This proposed PhD Project will compare cocoa production in monoculture, organic agroforestry and dynamic agroforestry systems in Bolivia and develop an assessment framework aiming to:

1) Assess how extreme water events and changing rainfall patterns influence the socio-economic situation and livelihoods of rural smallholder communities, both perceived and measured;

2) Analyze seasonal and water related effects on labor availability and nutrition and identify potential resilience pathways;

3) Identify the potential of innovations in farming systems and value chains developed within the region to mitigate the challenges identified, including innovation transfer and the role of cooperatives by using participatory and interdisciplinary (mixed methods) research methods.

Required skills and qualifications of the applicant:

Spanish speaking and writing (business-fluent or native), English speaking and writing (very good). An MSc in Environmental Sciences, Social Sciences, Agricultural Sciences or a related topic; ideally experienced in qualitative, mixed-method and participatory research methods; ability to work in interdisciplinary projects; exceptional interpersonal and communication skills; willingness to travel to and spend extended time periods in Bolivia; ability to identify and grasp complex patterns in both social and agricultural backgrounds; ability to communicate scientific observations and conclusions both in written and oral form.

Contact person and institute in charge:

Prof. Dr. Regina Birner
Social and Institutional Change in Agricultural Development (490C)

Universität Hohenheim
Wollgrasweg 43
D-70599 Stuttgart

Co-Supervision by
PD Dr. Marc Cotter
Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL,
Ackerstr.113
5070 Frick, AG, Switzerland