Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Glass Half Full or Half Empty? The Contribution of Cacao in Traditional Agroforestry Systems to the Income of Indigenous Peoples in the Ecuadorian Amazon

  • Original Research
  • Published:
Small-scale Forestry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The chakra is the traditional agroforestry system of the Kichwa people in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Over time, it has incorporated cash crops (particularly cacao) as a way to improve the monetary income of indigenous households while preventing them from engaging in unsustainable practices. However, scarce empirical research has been conducted to determine if such a goal has been accomplished. Using data from a household survey (n = 330) conducted among the members of three cacao producer associations, we determined that households producing cacao in the chakra system are poorer and have lower land endowments than other Kichwa populations in the area. Cacao accounts for 42 and 19% of agricultural and total income, respectively, reflecting that, indeed, income from cacao is essential for the livelihoods of the Kichwa people. Multivariate analysis reveals that income from cacao is positively correlated with landholding area, but negatively correlated with the area in forest, probably reflecting that the need for monetary income encourages indigenous households to expand the area of chakra. The results also show that households having off-farm income and receiving social assistance are less dependent on cacao income. Overall, our findings reflect that, while an essential source of monetary income, income from cacao -alone- is not sufficient to meet household needs. Diversifying the basket of products with market value, strengthening research on agroforestry systems, and promoting chakra tourism are proposed as alternatives to increase monetary income and preserving the chakra system.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Naranjilla is an Andean fruit bush consumed principally in Ecuador, Colombia and Central America (Acosta et al. 2009).

  2. It is worth noting that a small fraction of the sample (12%) devotes land to other uses, including forest, fallow, pastures, and monoculture. Around 42% keeps some land in forest. Nevertheless, the area devoted to the chakra accounts, on average for 75% of the total farm size.

  3. The index is the first principal component of possession of gas stove, cell phone, refrigerator, chainsaw, and outboard motor and availability of electricity and internet. The first principal component accounted for 23% of the variance in the sample.

  4. The percent change of a coefficient c multiplying a dummy variable in a loglinear model is given by the expression 100[exp(c) − 1].

  5. Poverty means different things for different people. In this sense, Jarrett (2019) argued that for Kichwa people lack of food is an indicator of poverty while abundance of food is associated with wealth. In the context of this study, we determined that 85% of the households in the sample are extreme poor as they live on US $ 1.9 per person per day (The World Bank 2016).

  6. In fact, when removing the total farm size from the list of predictors, the effect of chakra sizes becomes significant.

References

  • Acosta Ó, Pérez AM, Vaillant F (2009) Chemical characterization, antioxidant properties, and volatile constituents of naranjilla (Solanum quitoense Lam.) Cultivated in Costa Rica. Arch Latinoam Nutr 59(1):88–94

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Altieri MA, Toledo VM (2011) The agroecological revolution in Latin America: rescuing nature, ensuring food sovereignty and empowering peasants. J Peasant Stud 38(3):587–612

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Astier M, Argueta JQ, Orozco-Ramírez Q, González MV, Morales J, Gerritsen PR, Martínez Saldaña T (2017) Back to the roots: understanding current agroecological movement, science, and practice in Mexico. Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems 41(3–4):329–348. https://doi.org/10.1080/21683565.2017.1287809

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bass MS, Finer M, Jenkins CN, Kreft H, Cisneros-Heredia DF, McCracken SF, Villa G (2010) Global conservation significance of Ecuador’s Yasuní National Park. PLoS ONE 5(1):e8767

    Article  ADS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Bilsborrow RE, Barbieri AF, Pan W (2004) Changes in population and land use over time in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Acta Amazonica 34(4):635–647. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0044-59672004000400015

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bisseleua D, Missoup A, Vidal S (2009) Biodiversity conservation, ecosystem functioning, and economic incentives under cocoa agroforestry intensification. Conserv Biol 23(5):1176–1184

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Borja D (2017) Evaluación De La Política Pública De Fomento Productivo en El Cultivo De Cacao en chakra en la reserva de Biósfera Sumaco. [Master on Territorial Development, Facultad Lationamericana de Ciencias Sociales]. Quito, Ecuador

    Google Scholar 

  • Caicedo Vargas C (2019) Sistemas agroforestales con cacao (Theobroma cacao L.), en la Amazonía ecuatoriana: Un enfoque agroecológico [Master Thesis, Universidad de Córdova]. Córdova, Spain

  • Cerda R, Deheuvels O, Calvache D, Niehaus L, Saenz Y, Kent J, Somarriba E (2014) Contribution of cocoa agroforestry systems to family income and domestic consumption: looking toward intensification. Agroforest Syst 88(6):957–981

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • CIFOR (2007) PEN Technical Guidelines. C. f. I. F. Research

  • Coq-Huelva D, Higuchi A, Alfalla-Luque R, Burgos-Morán R, Arias-Gutiérrez R (2017) Co-evolution and bio-social construction: the Kichwa agroforestry systems (chakras) in the Ecuadorian Amazonia. Sustainability 9(10):1920. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9101920

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coq-Huelva D, Torres-Navarrete B, Bueno-Suárez C (2018) Indigenous worldviews and western conventions: Sumak Kawsay and cocoa production in Ecuadorian Amazonia. Agric Hum Values 35(1):163–179. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-017-9812-x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eguiguren P, Ojeda Luna T, Torres B, Lippe M, Günter SJS (2020) Ecosystem service multifunctionality: decline and recovery pathways in the Amazon and Chocó Lowland rainforests. 12(18):7786

  • Ellis F (2000) Rural livelihoods and diversity in developing countries. Oxford university press

  • FAO (2014) SAFA: Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture systems guidelines. F. a. A. Organization

  • FAO (2023) Agroforestry chakra system of the communities of native peoples in Napo province. https://www.fao.org/giahs/giahsaroundtheworld/giahsaroundtheworld/proposed-sites/latin-america-and-the-caribbean/chakra-amazonica/detailed-information/en/

  • GAD Napo (2019) Plan de Desarrollo y Ordenamiento Napo 2020–2023

  • GIZ (2011) Fomento De La Cadena De valor de cacao en organizaciones de pequen˜os productores de esmeraldas y Napo: Análisis De Impactos Del Programa GESOREN – GIZ. D. G. f. I. Z. G. GmbH

  • Godoy R, Undurraga E, Wilkie D, Reyes-García V, Huanca T, Leonard W, Conservation TBSTJA (2010) The effect of wealth and real income on wildlife consumption among native amazonians in Bolivia: estimates of annual trends with longitudinal household data (2002–2006). 13(3):265–274

  • Gray CL, Bilsborrow RE, Bremner JL, Lu F (2008) Indigenous land use in the Ecuadorian Amazon: a cross-cultural and multilevel analysis. Hum Ecol 36(1):97–109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haggblade S, Hazell P, Reardon T (2010) The rural non-farm economy: prospects for growth and poverty reduction. World Dev 38(10):1429–1441

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heredia M, Torres B, Cayambe J, Ramos N, Luna M, Diaz-Ambrona CG (2020) Sustainability Assessment of Smallholder Agroforestry Indigenous Farming in the Amazon: a case study of Ecuadorian Kichwas. Agronomy 10(12):1973

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Higuchi A, Coq-Huelva D, Vasco C, Alfalla-Luque R, Maehara R (2022) An evidence-based relationship between technical assistance and productivity in cocoa from Tocache, Peru. Revista de Economia e Sociologia Rural, 61

  • INEC (2010) Censo de Población y Vivienda. https://www.ecuadorencifras.gob.ec/estadisticas/

  • INEC (2015) Encuesta De Condiciones De Vida-Sexta Ronda. Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas y Censos

  • Jadán O, Cifuentes Jara M, Torres B, Selesi D, Veintimilla Ramos DA, Günter S (2015a) J. P. d. C. C. y. C. Influence of tree cover on diversity, carbon sequestration and productivity of cocoa systems in the Ecuadorian Amazon

  • Jadán O, Cifuentes M, Torres B, Selesi D, Veintimilla D, Günter S (2015b) Influence of tree cover on diversity, carbon sequestration and productivity of cocoa systems in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Bois & Forests des Tropiques 325:35–47

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jadán O, Günter S, Torres B, Selesi D (2015c) Riqueza Y Potencial maderable en sistemas agroforestales tradicionales como alternativa al uso del bosque nativo, Amazonia Del Ecuador. Revista Forestal Mesoamericana Kurú 12(28):13–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jarrett C (2019) The social life of guayusa from amazonian ecuador: an examination of livelihoods, landscapes, and politics [PhD. Thesis, The University of Texas at San Antonio]. San Antonio, Texas

  • Jarrett C, Cummins I, Logan-Hines E (2017) Adapting indigenous agroforestry systems for integrative landscape management and sustainable supply chain development in Napo, Ecuador. Integrating landscapes: Agroforestry for biodiversity conservation and food sovereignty. Springer, pp 283–309

  • Kohn E (2013) How forests think: toward an anthropology beyond the human. Univ of California Press

  • Krause T, Ness B (2017) Energizing agroforestry: Ilex Guayusa as an additional commodity to diversify amazonian agroforestry systems. Int J Biodivers Sci Ecosyst Serv Manage 13(1):191–203

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuntashula E, van der Horst D, Vermeylen S (2014) A pro-poor biofuel? Household wealth and farmer participation in Jatropha curcas seed production and exchange in eastern Zambia. Biomass Bioenergy 63:187–197

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lehmann S, Rodríguez J (2013) La Chakra Kichwa: Criterios para la conservación y fomento de un sistema de producción sostenible en la Asociación KALLARI y sus organizaciones socias. G. f. I. Zusammenarbeit

  • Mainville N, Webb J, Lucotte M, Davidson R, Betancourt O, Cueva E, Mergler D (2006) Decrease of soil fertility and release of mercury following deforestation in the Andean Amazon, Napo River Valley, Ecuador. Sci Total Environ 368(1):88–98

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Myers N, Mittermeier RA, Mittermeier CG, Fonseca D, G. A., Kent J (2000) Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature 403(6772):853–858

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nepstad D, Schwartzman S, Bamberger B, Santilli M, Ray D, Schlesinger P, Fiske G (2006) Inhibition of Amazon deforestation and fire by parks and indigenous lands. Conserv Biol 20(1):65–73

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nuckolls JB (2010) Lessons from a Quechua strongwoman: Ideophony, dialogue, and perspective. University of Arizona Press

  • O’Bryan CJ, Garnett ST, Fa JE, Leiper I, Rehbein JA, Fernández-Llamazares Á, Burgess ND (2021) The importance of indigenous peoples’ lands for the conservation of terrestrial mammals. Conserv Biol 35(3):1002–1008

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Papke LE, Wooldridge JM (1996) Econometric methods for fractional response variables with an application to 401 (k) plan participation rates. J Appl Econom 11(6):619–632

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perreault T (2005) Why chacras (swidden gardens) persist: agrobiodiversity, food security, and cultural identity in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Hum Organ 64(4):327–339

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pichón FJ (1997) Settler households and land-use patterns in the Amazon frontier: farm-level evidence from Ecuador. World Dev 25(1):67–91

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Santafe-Troncoso V, Loring PA (2021) Indigenous food sovereignty and tourism: the Chakra Route in the Amazon region of Ecuador. J Sustainable Tourism 29(2–3):392–411

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sirén AH (2007) Population growth and land use intensification in a subsistence-based indigenous community in the Amazon. Hum Ecol 35(6):669–680

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swanson TD (2009) Singing to estranged lovers: Runa relations to plants in the Ecuadorian Amazon. J Study Religion Nat Cult, 3(1)

  • The World Bank (2016) Principles and Practice in Measuring Global Poverty. Retrieved 03-11-2022 from https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2016/01/13/principles-and-practice-in-measuring-global-poverty

  • Torres B, Maza O, Aguirre P, Hinojosa L, Günter S (2015) The contribution of traditional agroforestry to climate change adaptation in the Ecuadorian Amazon: The Chakra system. Handbook of climate change adaptation, 1973–1994

  • Torres B, Vasco C, Günter S, Knoke T (2018) Determinants of agricultural diversification in a hotspot area: evidence from colonist and indigenous communities in the Sumaco Biosphere Reserve, Ecuadorian Amazon. Sustainability 10(5):1432. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10051432

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Torres B, Andrade AK, Enríquez F, Luna M, Heredia M, Bravo C (2022) Estudios Sobre Medios de Vida, Sostenibilidad y Captura de Carbono En el Sistema Agroforestal Chakra con Cacao en Comunidades de Pueblos Originarios de la Provincia de Napo: Casos de Las Asociaciones Kallari, Wiñak y Tsatsayaku, Amazonía Ecuatoriana. FAO

  • Uzendoski MA (2004) Manioc beer and meat: value, reproduction and cosmic substance among the Napo Runa of the Ecuadorian Amazon. J Roy Anthropol Inst 10(4):883–902

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Uzendoski M, Whitten NE (2014) From Acculturated indians to dynamic amazonian Quichua-speaking peoples. Tipití: J Soc Anthropol Lowland South Am 12(1):1–13

    Google Scholar 

  • Vasco C, Bilsborrow R, Torres B, Griess V (2018) Agricultural land use among mestizo colonist and indigenous populations: contrasting patterns in the Amazon. PLoS ONE 13(7):e0199518

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Vasco C, Salazar D, Cepeda D, Sevillano G, Pazmiño J, Huerta S (2022) The Socioeconomic Drivers of Ethical Food Consumption in Ecuador: A Quantitative Analysis. Sustainability 2022, 14, 13644. Sustainability(20), 13644. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142013644

  • Vasco C, Tamayo G, Griess V (2017a) The drivers of market integration among indigenous peoples: evidence from the Ecuadorian Amazon. Soc Nat Resour 30(10):1212–1228. https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920.2017.1331487

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vasco C, Torres B, Pacheco P, Griess V (2017b) The socioeconomic determinants of legal and illegal smallholder logging: evidence from the Ecuadorian Amazon. For Policy Econ 78:133–140. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2017.01.015

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vasco C, Torres B, Jácome E, Torres A, Eche D, Velasco C (2021) Use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in frontier areas: a case study in the Northern Ecuadorian Amazon. Land Use Policy 107:105490. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2021.105490

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vasco C, Valdiviezo R, Hernández H, Tafur V, Eche D, Jácome E (2020) Off-farm employment, Forest Clearing and Natural Resource Use: evidence from the Ecuadorian Amazon. Sustainability 12(11):4515. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12114515

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vasco Pérez C, Bilsborrow R, Torres B (2015) Income diversification of migrant colonists vs. indigenous populations: contrasting strategies in the Amazon. J Rural Stud 42:1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2015.09.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vera-Vélez R, Cota-Sánchez JH, Grijalva-Olmedo J (2021) Beta diversity and fallow length regulate soil fertility in cocoa agroforestry in the Northern Ecuadorian Amazon. Agric Syst 187:103020

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zambrano E, Torres B, Ochoa-Moreno S, Reyes H, Torres A, Velasco C, Heredia M (2021) Determinantes socioeconómicas del uso forestal maderable en la zona de amortiguamiento del Parque Nacional Sumaco Napo Galeras, Amazonía Ecuatoriana. Ecosistemas 30(3):2216–2216

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Facultad de Ciencias Agrícolas, Universidad Central del Ecuador, Quito, 170523, Ecuador

    Cristian Vasco, Valdano Tafur & Lourdes Caisaguano

  2. Facultad de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad Estatal Amazónica, Pastaza, 160101, Ecuador

    Bolier Torres & Marcelo Luna

  3. Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas, Sociales y de la Educación, Universidad Técnica de Babahoyo, Extensión Quevedo (UTB), Km 3 ½ vía a Valencia, Quevedo, 120550, Ecuador

    Alexandra Torres

Authors
  1. Cristian Vasco
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Bolier Torres
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Valdano Tafur
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Lourdes Caisaguano
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Marcelo Luna
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Alexandra Torres
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Cristian Vasco.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Vasco, C., Torres, B., Tafur, V. et al. Glass Half Full or Half Empty? The Contribution of Cacao in Traditional Agroforestry Systems to the Income of Indigenous Peoples in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Small-scale Forestry (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11842-024-09560-8

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11842-024-09560-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation