The cultivation of cocoa has been an important driver of tropical deforestation globally. Efforts to reverse this trend are focusing on the reintroduction of shade trees to cocoa plantations. Shade trees are valuable in enhancing biophysical conditions on cocoa (Theobroma cacao) fields and contribute to biodiversity and product diversification for smallholder producers. Participatory trials of cocoa agroforests planted with indigenous shade tree species were undertaken with farmers in the Atwima District of the Ashanti Region of Ghana, to increase tree volume on cocoa fields while improving rural livelihoods and enhancing environmental sustainability. An ex ante financial analysis of the technology was undertaken to assess its economic viability. Input-output data were collected from farmer experiments over three seasons and supplemented with data from traditional cocoa fields of varying rotation ages, and secondary data on production in later years of an eighty-year cocoa rotation. A discounted cash flow analysis was carried out to estimate the benefit-cost (B/C) ratio, net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR) and land expectation value (LEV) as well as the sensitivity to a 20% decline in cocoa prices and additional chemical costs for various shade scenarios at a 10% discount rate. It was observed that cocoa production is, in general, profitable. The change from the traditional system to one with hybrid cocoa raised the IRR from 31% to 57% with planted shade and 67% without, although extra agrochemical costs would tend to reduce the profitability of unshaded hybrid cocoa in particular. The age of maximum LEV for the various scenarios suggests that the optimum economic rotation for the hybrid cocoa is between 18 and 29 years, much less than the traditional system.

Understanding local communities' willingness to participate in environmental restoration activities can help assess the level of volunteerism that can be expected for restoration projects. This study ascertained local communities’ perception of the importance of non-market ecosystem services, the impact of illegal mining on ecosystem services, and their likeliness to participate in restoration of degraded lands resulting from illegal mining. Fifty respondents each were purposefully selected from three mining communities (Ntakam, Asawinso No.1 and Nkatieso) in a survey. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests results indicated there were no difference in views of respondents regarding the importance of forest for various non-market services. Illegal mining activities were identified as the cause of environmental problems such as water pollution, deforestation, poor soil fertility and limited access to land for agriculture productivity. Majority of respondents across the three communities indicated that forest is very important for non-market environmental services. Logistic regression results indicated that factors that affect likeliness to participate in restoration financing included income, embracing non-market ecosystem services as important, confidence in PES schemes and positive value motivation for restoration (altruistic, use and bequest values).

Forest degradation in West Africa is generally thought to have negative consequences on rural livelihoods but there is little overview of its effects in the region because the importance of forests to rural livelihoods has never been adequately quantified. Based on data from 1014 rural households across Burkina Faso and Ghana this paper attempts to fill this knowledge gap. We demonstrate that agricultural lands and the non-forest environment including parklands are considerably more valuable to poor as well as more well-off rural households than forests. Furthermore, product types supplied by the non-forest environment are almost identical with those from forests. Accordingly, forest clearance/degradation is profitable for and, hence, probably performed by rural people at large. We attribute rural people's high reliance on non-forest versus forest resources to the two countries' restrictive and inequitable forest policies which must be reformed to promote effective forest conservation, e.g., to mitigate climate change.

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Forests and tree-based systems are an important component of rural landscapes, sustaining livelihoods and contributing to the food security and nutritional needs of hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Historically, these systems developed under a wide variety of ecological conditions, and cultural and socio-economic contexts, as integrated approaches that combined management of forest and agricultural areas to provide primarily for the needs of producers and their local communities. Today they serve food and nutrition demands of growing global populations, both urban and rural. Population increase, globalisation, deforestation, land degradation, and ever-increasing demand and associated conflict for land (including forest) resources are placing pressure on these lands. Farmers have been encouraged to intensify food production on existing agricultural lands, by modifying some traditional practices (such as agroforestry) or abandoning others (such as shifting cultivation) that evolved over centuries to cope with biophysical constraints (e.g. limited soil fertility, climate variability) and changing socio-economic conditions. This chapter provides an overview of forests and tree-based systems and their role in enhancing food security and nutrition for rural communities and those served through the marketplace. The variability and viability of these management systems are considered within and across geographical regions and agro-ecological zones. Also discussed is the role of the social, cultural and economic contexts in which these systems exist, with a focus on three factors that affect the socio-economic organisation of forests and tree-based systems, namely: land and tree tenure and governance, human capital (including knowledge and labour) and financial capital (including credit). How these biophysical and socio-economic conditions and their complex interactions influence food security and nutrition outcomes, particularly for vulnerable segments of the population (i.e., the poor, women and children), are of particular concern.