Cocoa and Forests: Smallholder Incentives in Sustainable Cocoa Production

Abstract

I provide background information on the history of cocoa production in Côte d’Ivoire and describe the study area. I also provide some preliminary results on land access and tenure systems, land use history, and cocoa production to contextualize cocoa as a livelihood strategy in the region. Chapter 2 will then explore selling behaviors and patterns at the farmer level and answer questions of farmer decision-making and factors associated with cooperative membership. In Chapter 3, third-party cocoa certification programs are analyzed, specifically in the context of agroforestry practices. Results will be presented summarizing current agroforestry practices and how these are shaped or not by certification requirements.