This year's TROPENTAG conference on research in tropical and subtropical agriculture, natural resource management, and rural development, in collaboration with Humboldt University of Berlin, took place in a hybrid format from September 20th to 22nd. The conference theme, "Competing Pathways for Equitable Food Systems Transformation: Trade-offs and Synergies," provided a platform for presenting the ongoing research related to PRO-PLANTEURS on the topics of Living Income, Sustainability, Gender, and Diversification. Three posters were presented during the conference.

The works presented in this context were part of the "PRO-PLANTEURS Research: Accompanying Research on Achieving a Minimum Livelihood for Smallholder Farmers and Increasing Sustainable Cocoa Production," conducted in collaboration with the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF).

Here are some of the key findings: 

1. Strategies of Female Cocoa Farmers for Increasing Cocoa Production: Dr. Claudia Coral (ZALF, HU Berlin) presented initial results from an in-depth study of female cocoa farmers. This study delved into the challenges, motivations for adopting specific practices, strategies for improving sustainable cocoa cultivation, and more. Further information can be found on the poster. 

2. Positive Deviance Among Ivorian Cocoa Farmers: Master's student Jens Van Hee (Ghent University, ZALF) presented initial results regarding positive deviations observed among Ivorian cocoa farmers. Specifically, this research focused on the practices and strategies of individual cocoa farmers who achieved a higher minimum livelihood despite similar conditions. Additional details can be found on the poster.

3. Ecological and Social Services of Cocoa Agroforestry Systems: PhD candidate Bonna Antoinette TOKOU (UFHB, ZALF) investigated the ecological and social functions of cocoa within agroforestry systems in Côte d'Ivoire. The goal was to improve farmers' livelihoods and promote sustainable cocoa production. More information can be found on the poster.

You can find the conference program here, and a detailed program booklet is available for download here.

PRO-PLANTEURS, the joint project of the German Initiative on Sustainable Cocoa (GISCO), the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Conseil du Café-Cacao (CCC), works with more than 30.000 cocoa farming families towards improving their incomes and professionalizing the organizations they belong to.