Abstract
Conventional agriculture is a significant driver of ecosystem service loss. In contrast, agroforestry is a land use option that can restore ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration. Using field data from small proprieties we aimed to quantify carbon sequestration and its potential economic impact in coffee agroforestry systems (CAS) in Brazil. Allometric equations were used to estimate carbon stock and tree biomass, while net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), and payback period were used as economic feasibility parameters in a 16-year modeled scenario. Discount rate and carbon price applied was 6% and US$ 5.1 Mg CO2e-1, respectively. Total mean carbon stock in two years old and 16 years old CAS were 1.38 ± 0.63 Mg C ha-1 and 59.69 ± 32.63 Mg C ha-1, respectively. All CAS presented payback periods of two years, with a mean NPV of US$ 50,585.91 and a mean IRR of 89.93%. Carbon revenue impact on NPV and IRR was US$ 148.80 and 0.24%, respectively. Our results indicate that carbon sequestration economic impact does not encourage the adoption of coffee agroforestry systems. However, these systems can be an economically viable land use option that sequester large amounts of carbon comparable to forest patches.
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Acknowledgements
We recognize and appreciate all members of IPE’s technical team in Pontal do Paranapanema for all the support required to conduct the field work. Sincere gratitude to Brendan Harrison for his review and suggestions to the work. We are also grateful for the support and expertise provided by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN/Contract Number 01/2017) and World Resource Institute (WRI).
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Fieldwork efforts were funded by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN–contract #01/2017).
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Conceptualization—AU (leader), LCJr, NG. Data curation—NG (leader), AS, HG. Formal analysis—NG (leader), AB. Funding acquisition—AU. Investigation—NG (leader), AS, HG. Methodology—AU, NG, LCJr. Project administration—AU, NG, LCJr. Resources—LCJr. Software—AB (leader), NG. Supervision—AU. Writing original draft—NG. Writing review and editing— DA (equal), AU (equal), LCJr., AB (supporting).
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Goncalves, N., Andrade, D., Batista, A. et al. Potential economic impact of carbon sequestration in coffee agroforestry systems. Agroforest Syst 95, 419–430 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-020-00569-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-020-00569-4