Using farmers' local knowledge of tree provision of ecosystem services to strengthen the emergence of coffee-agroforestry landscapes in southwest China

Abstract

Intensive monoculture coffee farms quickly expanded in Yunnan Province in the 1990’s and 2000’s. In 2012, local authorities in Pu’er and Xishuangbanna Prefectures, the main coffee producing centre in the province, initiated a large-scale conversion program of these farms towards coffee-agroforestry systems to promote “ecologically-friendly coffee”. Shade tree inventories and household interviews were conducted in these two prefectures to characterize coffee farms and the Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK) of farmers on the provision of ecosystem services by associated tree species. This study on newly emerging coffee farming systems revealed a high level of tree species diversity at both farm and landscape levels despite the previous dominance of intensive coffee monoculture and the large-scale distribution of a limited number of shade tree species by the government. 162 tree species were encountered during farm inventories, out of which the community of coffee farmers was able to rank 30 against 9 ecosystem services and disservices. This study reveals that this LEK is a type of hybrid knowledge that still relies mostly on traditional knowledge of tree species combined with experience acquired from newly-implemented coffee-agroforestry practices. This study also pointed out knowledge gaps regarding the impact of mature trees on coffee yield, coffee quality and pest control. The participatory approach resulted in the identification of non-promoted species with a high potential to provide locally relevant ecosystem services in coffee-agroforestry systems. These results lead to the upgrade of an online tool (www.shadetreeadvice.org) which allows extension services generating lists of recommended shade tree species tailored to the local ecological context and individual farmers’ needs. This tool will benefit farmers’ livelihood, support landscape health and contribute to the sustainability of the emerging Yunnan coffee agriculture sector.

Ecosystem Services and Importance of Common Tree Species in Coffee-Agroforestry Systems: Local Knowledge of Small-Scale Farmers at Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

“…Based on the method of van der Wolf, et al [23], we used the BradleyTerry2 package in R 3.5.0 [29] to identify shade tree species best at providing specific ESs, as perceived by the farmers. We excluded interview respondents with less than five years of experience as well as tree species that were ranked less than 10 times for a particular ESs [18]; this left 20 of the 22 tree species in the analysis. As explained by Rigal el al.…”

“…[18], the ranks for each ESs need to be converted into pairwise comparisons to fit the Bradley-Terry model. For each tree species and ES, this model calculates scores, which are comparative values representing the likelihood that one tree species performs better than another tree species in providing an ES [18]. We normalized the scores between 0 and 1 to be able to compare them [18].…”

“…For each tree species and ES, this model calculates scores, which are comparative values representing the likelihood that one tree species performs better than another tree species in providing an ES [18]. We normalized the scores between 0 and 1 to be able to compare them [18]. Besides the scores, quasi-standard errors were calculated to indicate how frequently a species was included in the ranking and how consistently the respondents ranked this species [18].…”

“…We normalized the scores between 0 and 1 to be able to compare them [18]. Besides the scores, quasi-standard errors were calculated to indicate how frequently a species was included in the ranking and how consistently the respondents ranked this species [18]. We compared the scores pairwise using a Wald test.…”

“…From experience, they are aware of interaction(s) between shade tree species and coffee, as well as many direct ESs provided by specific tree species [14,15]. In some areas, however (e.g., the impact of individual tree species on pests and diseases), their knowledge might be limited [16][17][18]. Nevertheless, exploring farmers' knowledge might provide novel insights into interactions between shade tree species and coffee productivity.…”