Organic vs. conventional cocoa farming management: what is the relationship between agrobiodiversity, farming practices and cocoa tree health in Côte d'Ivoire?

The most widespread plant health management approach is pathogen-focused and relies on systematic, often excessive, use of chemical inputs. Conversely, agroecology is gaining ground alongside the emergence of new salutogenic approaches based on an understanding of the factors that promote biodiversity-based plant health. To apply these approaches, it is thus essential to gain further insight into the role of agrobiodiversity, particularly its structure and composition, on plant health. Our study was conducted in cocoa-based agroforestry systems in Côte d'Ivoire, characterized by an agrobiodiversity gradient, varying in terms of species diversity, plant density and spatial distribution. These systems are managed by farmers using diverse agricultural practices based on their knowledge and experience, while also being influenced by the socioeconomic environment. We hypothesized that cocoa tree health could be enhanced via efficient agrobiodiversity management and hence that organic farming systems would be more advanced in this respect than conventional systems due to their closer alignment with biodiversity-based practices. We tested this by comparing management practices and shade tree diversity in both organic and conventional farming systems in a network of 84 cocoa plots. We then performed statistical tests on a subset of 37 plots to assess the relationship between agrobiodiversity and farming practices. Our study revealed that farming practices and their annual intervention frequency varied little between organic and conventional farming situations. However, the organic farmers relied on substitution strategy, replacing chemical inputs with organic inputs. Furthermore, our results indicated that the species richness could have a significant impact on cocoa tree health, particularly in organic farming systems. This raises fundamental questions about how agricultural practices influence biodiversity-health interactions and calls for further research to deepen our understanding of these dynamics.