Development of a Knowledge Exchange Network for Sustainable Cocoa Farming

可可是潮湿热带地区的一种重要经济作物，估计养活了500万至600万农民，主要是小农。这种作物还支持世界各地的糖果行业，特别是在英国。可可农民在他们的农场面临一些挑战，这也影响到他们的生计。其中一个挑战是土壤退化，即通过连续耕作同一土地而损失养分和土壤有机质。这可能会导致种植转移，这是砍伐森林的一个驱动因素。另一个挑战是气候变化，这导致了更极端和更难预测的天气模式。这一知识交流奖学金建立在雷丁大学对可可的环境生理学和有机土壤改良剂进行的研究的基础上，目的是将研究结果转化为实际的田间解决方案，从而提供更可持续的可可种植系统。该奖学金将向参与可可生产和可可行业的一系列利益攸关方传达关于气候变化可能如何影响可可的关键研究成果。这将通过互动式讲习班和后续调查来实现，这些调查还将寻求探讨如何使可可种植适应不断变化的气候。关于土壤改良剂(堆肥和生物炭，在改善土壤质量和养分有效性方面有好处)的知识交流将建立在雷丁大学、夸梅·恩克鲁马科技大学(KNUST)和加纳可可研究所(CRIG)之间以前和正在进行的研究的基础上。在这里，将整理两种形式的证据，即田间试验数据(产量和土壤物理性质)和农民证词，以视频的形式，农民描述他们何时以及如何使用土壤改良剂以及他们所获得的好处(例如，更高的产量和改善的生计)。这些数据摘要和证明将被翻译成可可种植地区使用的其他语言(法语、西班牙语、葡萄牙语和印尼语)。将开发一个网站，作为一个中央门户，提供有关实现可持续可可生产的方法的信息。该网站将面向可可种植和可可行业的一系列参与者，包括推广工人、可可购买公司、行业和普通公众。它将包括关于可可如何应对气候变化和特定环境压力(例如高温和干旱)的重要研究成果。它还将包括：讲习班成果、显示土壤改良剂(堆肥和生物炭)效益的数据摘要、农民表彰视频和土壤改良剂制备实用指南。该网站的主要组成部分将被翻译成法语、西班牙语和葡萄牙语，以扩大其国际影响。该网站中心还将突出显示并提供链接，指向促进可持续可可种植的其他组织的研究。将通过适当的社交媒体平台以及针对可可行业和可可研究界的会议，提高对网站和研究可可可持续性问题的认识。

Cocoa is an important cash crop in the humid tropics supporting an estimated 5-6 million mainly smallholder farmers. The crop also supports the confectionary industry worldwide, specifically in the UK. Cocoa farmers face a number of challenges on their farms which also impact on their livelihoods. One such challenge is soil degradation, that is the loss of nutrients and soil organic matter through continuous farming of the same land. This can result in shifting cultivation, which is a driver of deforestation. Another challenge is that of climate change, which is resulting in more extreme and less predictable weather patterns. This Knowledge Exchange Fellowship builds on research conducted at the University of Reading on the environmental physiology of cocoa and on organic soil amendments with the aim of translating research findings into practical field solutions, thereby delivering more sustainable cocoa farming systems.The fellowship will communicate key research findings on how climate change is likely to impact on cocoa to a range of stakeholders involved in cocoa production and the cocoa industry. This will be achieved through interactive workshops and follow-on surveys which will also seek to explore how cocoa farming can be adapted to a changing climate. Outputs from the workshop will also steer future research priorities on environmental physiology of cocoa.Knowledge exchange on soil amendments (compost and biochar, which have benefits in terms of improving soil quality and nutrient availability) will build on previous and on-going research that is a partnership between the University of Reading, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG). Here, two forms of evidence will be collated, data from field trials (yields and soil physical properties) and farmer testimonials, in the forms of videos, whereby farmers describe when and how they have used soils amendments and the benefits they have experienced (for example, higher yields and improved livelihoods). These data summaries and testimonials will be translated into other languages that are spoken across areas where cocoa is grown (French, Spanish, Portuguese and Bahasa Indonesian).A website will be developed which will act a central portal of information about methods of moving towards sustainable cocoa production. The website will be geared towards a range of players involved in cocoa farming and the cocoa industry, including extension workers, cocoa buying companies, industry and the general public. It will include important research findings on how cocoa responds to a changing climate and to specific environmental stresses (for example, high temperatures and drought). It will also include: outcomes of workshops, summaries of data showing the benefits of soil amendments (compost and biochar), farmer testimonial videos and practical guides for the preparation of soil amendment materials.Key components of the website will be translated into French, Spanish and Portuguese to expand its international reach. The website hub will also highlight and provide links to research in other organisations that promotes sustainable cocoa cultivation. Awareness of the website and of research addressing cocoa sustainability issues will be enhanced through appropriate social media platforms and also conferences geared both to the cocoa industry and to the cocoa research community.