Updates from the field: Cocoa agroforestry in the Ashanti region, Ghana

PhD Researcher Lubasi Limweta shares updates from fieldwork in Ghana, where the Flourishing Landscapes Programme is investigating the balance between ecological, social and economic outcomes of agroforestry systems. June 9, 2025
People standing in a tropical forest
The team is made up of researchers from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and the Nature-based Solutions Initiative (NbSI).

Written by Lubasi Limweta

Since 18th September 2024, the team have been conducting fieldwork in the Ashanti region of Ghana as part of the Flourishing Landscape Programme funded by the Global Centre on Biodiversity for Climate (GCBC). The team is made up of researchers from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and the Nature-based Solutions Initiative (NbSI).

The primary purpose of this fieldwork is to collect comprehensive social-ecological data to examine the effects of specific characteristics of cocoa agroforestry systems on ‘Nature’s Contributions to People (NCPs), including microclimate buffering, greenhouse gas sequestration, pest suppression, nutrient cycling and cocoa yield.

Various shots from the field work
Cocoa farms in Ghana, Heap of harvested Cocoa, Cocoa tree with pods
(Photo credit: Lubasi)

First field work season – monitoring social-ecological outcomes

In the first fieldwork season from September-November 2024, the team set up a suite of experiments to monitor multiple dimensions for each agroforestry farm plot:

  • Microclimate sensors to monitor temperature, soil moisture and humidity for 12 months.
  • Soil and litter samples for nutrient analysis
  • Litter traps to monitor litter biomass production
  • Passive acoustic recorder for monitoring bat and bird vocal signals over a period of 7 days.
  • Farmer interviews on farm management practices and social-economic status.
  • The experiments continued with bi-monthly monitoring by the team on the ground.
Team working in the field
Team installing microclimate station, Soil sampling, Nutrient cycling deployment
(Photo credit: Lubasi)

Second fieldwork season – monitoring cocoa yield

In the last week of April 2025, we began the cocoa yield monitoring. This was strategically begun in April 2025 to coincide with the start of the minor harvest season for Cocoa in the region. The ‘cocoa yield determination exercise’ involved counting and tagging all the cocoa pods within a specified area of each plot. The team will then investigate interactions between cocoa yield and the social-ecological outcomes in agroforestry systems.

More field shots
Pod counting and tagging , Downloading Microclimate data from a logge, Changing microclimate sensor batteries.

Next steps of the project

The project fieldwork and monitoring has been ongoing for over 6 months now, the next steps are to continue with the routine monitoring, collecting microclimate data, litter biomass production collection, and pod counting all the way until the 12th month (September 2025) when the major harvesting season begins.

The Flourishing Landscapes Programme (FLP), led by NbSI’s Dr Will Thompson, is one of thirteen recipients of the first round of research grants awarded by the Global Centre on Biodiversity for Climate (GCBC) – a UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) research and development programme that funds research to unlock the potential of nature to provide climate solutions and improve livelihoods. It is funded by the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs working in partnership with DAI Global as the Fund Manager Lead and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew as the Strategic Science Lead. Learn more about GCBC and this grant.