Assessing Land Use and Land Cover Change and Farmers’ Perceptions of Deforestation and Land Degradation in South-West Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa

Kouassi, Jean‐Luc; Gyau, Amos; Diby, Lucien; Bene, Yeboi; Kouamé, Christophe

doi:10.3390/land10040429

Cited by 70 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…The small size of cocoa farms could be explained by the conversion of old cocoa plantations into other perennial crops such as rubber and oil palm, declining the size of cocoa plantations [56], a strategy meant to help farmers cope with the falling of cocoa farm-gate prices. Furthermore, other contributing factors to the reduction in the size of farms were the diversification of crops [57,58], the depletion of forest lands [9,43,59], the failure and the high cost of cocoa regeneration and replanting initiatives under non-forest lands [60,61].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exploring Barriers to Agroforestry Adoption by Cocoa Farmers in South-Western Côte d’Ivoire

Kouassi

Bene

et al. 2021

Sustainability

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Agroforestry is part of the package of good agricultural practices (GAPs) referred to as a reference to basic environmental and operational conditions necessary for the safe, healthy, and sustainable production of cocoa. Furthermore, cocoa agroforestry is one of the most effective nature-based solutions to address global change including land degradation, nutrient depletion, climate change, biodiversity loss, food and nutrition insecurity, and rural poverty and current cocoa supply chain issues. This study was carried out in South-Western Côte d’Ivoire through a household survey to assess the willingness of cocoa farmers to adopt cocoa agroforestry, a key step towards achieving sustainability in the cocoa supply chain markedly threatened by all types of biophysical and socio-economic challenges. In total, 910 cocoa households were randomly selected and individually interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Findings revealed that from the overwhelming proportion of farmers practicing full-sun cocoa farming with little or no companion trees associated, 50.2 to 82.1% were willing to plant and to keep fewer than 20 trees per ha in their farms for more than 20 years after planting. The most preferred trees provide a range of ecosystem services, including timber and food production, as well as shade regulation. More than half of the interviewed households considered keeping in their trees in their plantations for more than 20 years subject to the existence of a formal contract to protect their rights and tree ownership. This opinion is significantly affected by age, gender, access to seedlings of companion trees and financial resources. A bold step forward towards transitioning to cocoa agroforestry and thereby agroecological intensification lies in (i) solving the issue of land tenure and tree ownership by raising awareness about the new forest code and, particularly, the understanding of cocoa agroforestry, (ii) highlighting the added value of trees in cocoa lands, and (iii) facilitating access to improved cocoa companion tree materials and incentives. Trends emerged from this six-year-old study about potential obstacles likely to impede the adoption of agroforestry by cocoa farmers meet the conclusions of several studies recently rolled out in the same region for a sustainable cocoa sector, thereby confirming that not only the relevance of this work but also its contribution to paving the way for the promotion of agroecological transition in cocoa farming.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a result, several cocoa-forest landscapes emerged in the last forest reserves of the country which transitioned into major cocoa-growing areas [8]. These major degradations have caused an unprecedented decline in forest cover [9][10][11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Barriers to Agroforestry Adoption by Cocoa Farmers in South-Western Côte d’Ivoire

Kouassi

Bene

et al. 2021

Sustainability

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“…The utility of this study for the Mediterranean Region is to encourage continuous monitoring of tree cover loss evolution, as has already been conducted in countries in South America [50,51], Europe [52], and Africa [53,54].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…threat to tree cover loss includes intense forest fires [9,13,24,49], illegal logging [13,17], and some traditional tools for creating grasslands for extensive livestock farming and overgrazing in states such as Algeria, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, and Turkey [9,16]. The utility of this study for the Mediterranean Region is to encourage continuous monitoring of tree cover loss evolution, as has already been conducted in countries in South America [50,51], Europe [52], and Africa [53,54].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tree Cover Loss in the Mediterranean Region—An Increasingly Serious Environmental Issue

Ciobotaru¹,

Patel

Pintilii

2021

Forests

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The Mediterranean Region currently faces major environmental issues that require constant analysis and monitoring. This study presents a thorough approach based on the application of Landsat imagery from Global Forest Change during 2001–2019. Spatial distribution mapping was one of the objectives of the study. We approached the analysis of tree cover loss areas by analyzing the cumulative tree cover loss and Tree Cover Loss Rate. This indicator offers information about the trend of tree cover loss in each Mediterranean country. A total of 581 Mha of deforested area was mapped during the analyzed period. Analysis was further supplemented by some statistical operations (distributions shown via histograms, validation via Shapiro–Wilk normality test, and testing via one-sample t-test). Agricultural expansion, intense forest fires, illegal logging, overgrazing (especially in the northern part of Africa), and extensive livestock farming have influenced the Mediterranean forest ecosystem’s stability. The continuation of these activities could cause extreme climatic events, severe degradation, and desertification.

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“…Every year, significant swaths of forests are lost and converted into urban spaces to support the creation and expansion of cities and promote economic activities. Because the lands are converted into infrastructure and urban areas, such forest losses are extremely difficult to recover [23][24][25].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study on Spatiotemporal Characteristic and Mechanism of Forest Loss in Urban Agglomeration in the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River

Zheng

Xiang

2021

Forests

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Under the backdrop of achieving carbon neutrality and accelerating urbanization, China’s forests face unprecedented pressures. This study explored the spatiotemporal characteristics of forest loss in the urban agglomeration in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River (UAMRYR). The dynamic mechanism of forest loss caused by fire, logging, construction, and pollution was also analyzed using spatial database development, polygon superposition analysis, grid system construction, and coordinate system calculation. The results show that the forest loss in the UAMRYR experienced three stages: continuous acceleration (1990–2010), peak (2010–2015), and slight decline (2015–2020). Rapid urban expansion is the primary cause of forest loss, and the three metropolitan areas had the fastest urban expansion and the most severe forest loss. Due to the success of afforestation efforts, the forest loss caused by fire, logging, and pollution was restored by 80%, while most of the forest losses caused by construction are permanent. Given the current forest loss trends, large expanses of forests in the UAMRYR are at risk of being destroyed and causing serious damage to the region’s ecological environment. Forest losses can be significantly reduced by guiding the rational expansion of cities, supporting afforestation for urban construction projects, strengthening forest fire risk investigation, and implementing ecological reconstruction of polluted areas.

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Assessing Land Use and Land Cover Change and Farmers’ Perceptions of Deforestation and Land Degradation in South-West Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa

Cited by 70 publications

References 68 publications

Exploring Barriers to Agroforestry Adoption by Cocoa Farmers in South-Western Côte d’Ivoire

Exploring Barriers to Agroforestry Adoption by Cocoa Farmers in South-Western Côte d’Ivoire

Tree Cover Loss in the Mediterranean Region—An Increasingly Serious Environmental Issue

Study on Spatiotemporal Characteristic and Mechanism of Forest Loss in Urban Agglomeration in the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River

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