The first draft of the literature review has been submitted and I depart for Hanoi tomorrow. Since the last post I have been starting to look at carbon stocks and flows on cocoa farms and the following are some key points from what I have been reading.
Carbon stocks on-farm contribute to cocoa farming’s potential for mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. In order to assess the carbon sequestration and mitigation potential, the carbon stock on farm must be estimated. The carbon stock of the farm is the total carbon stored in the system, including in the cocoa trees, shade trees, soil organic carbon (SOC) and soil litter. SOC is normally the largest contributor to the total carbon stock. In Sulawesi for example, a study found that SOC contributed 55% to the total carbon stock, followed by 22% from shade trees, 12% from cacao trees, 8% from roots, and 8% from soil litter (1), see figure below.
Continue reading “Above-ground carbon stocks on cocoa farms”