Development of a Knowledge Exchange Network for Sustainable Cocoa Farming

可可在潮湿的热带地区是一种重要的经济作物，约有500万至600万主要是小农。这种作物还支持世界各地的糖果工业，特别是在英国。可可种植者在他们的农场面临着许多挑战，这些挑战也影响到他们的生计。其中一个挑战是土壤退化，即在同一块土地上连续耕作导致养分和土壤有机质的流失。这可能导致耕作的转移，这是森林砍伐的一个驱动因素。另一个挑战是气候变化，它导致了更加极端和难以预测的天气模式。该知识交流奖学金建立在雷丁大学对可可环境生理学和有机土壤修正的研究基础上，旨在将研究成果转化为实际的现场解决方案，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产业的一系列利益相关者传达有关气候变化如何影响可可的关键研究成果。这将通过互动研讨会和后续调查来实现，这些调查还将探索可可种植如何适应不断变化的气候。讲习班的成果还将指导未来可可环境生理学的研究重点。关于土壤改良剂（堆肥和生物炭，它们在改善土壤质量和养分供应方面有好处）的知识交流将建立在雷丁大学、夸梅·恩克鲁玛科技大学（KNUST）和加纳可可研究所（CRIG）之间以前和正在进行的合作研究的基础上。在这里，将整理两种形式的证据，即来自田间试验的数据（产量和土壤物理特性）和农民的证词（以视频的形式），农民在视频中描述他们何时以及如何使用土壤改良剂以及他们所经历的好处（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）。将建立一个网站，作为向可持续可可生产迈进的方法信息的中心门户。该网站将面向与可可种植和可可产业相关的一系列参与者，包括推广人员、可可购买公司、行业和公众。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：讲习班的成果、显示土壤改良剂（堆肥和生物炭）益处的数据摘要、农民推荐视频和准备土壤改良剂材料的实用指南。该网站的主要内容将被翻译成法语、西班牙语和葡萄牙语，以扩大其国际影响力。该网站中心还将强调并提供其他组织促进可持续可可种植的研究的链接。将通过适当的社交媒体平台和面向可可行业和可可研究界的会议，提高对网站和可可可持续性问题研究的认识。

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.