Poverty, education and family health limit disease management and yields on smallholder cocoa farms in Bougainville

Abstract

Abstract Decades of research and training activities have not reduced crop disease or pest losses, increased average yields, or alleviated poverty among smallholder cocoa farmers. Failure has been variously attributed to farmer ignorance or indifference, sociocultural barriers, inappropriate technologies, risk aversion, or uncertain financial incentives. However, attributing a single cause overlooks the complexity resulting from unique intersections of challenges facing smallholder cocoa farming families in different regions. We investigated smallholder farmer productivity from a transdisciplinary One-Health perspective and found that among cocoa farming families in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville (Papua New Guinea; PNG) the most significant barriers to increased productivity and higher incomes were low levels of education, financial insecurity, and poor family health. These factors interact to reduce the availability of productive labour needed to implement knowledge and technologies from extension and training programs, and it is labour availability rather than agronomic knowledge that limits the effectiveness of farmer training. If the goal is to increase productivity and thus livelihoods of smallholder cocoa farmers, One Health approaches that engage with communities to include relevant education, health, and income diversification packages are likely to be more successful than conventional agronomically-based farmer training. Healthy crops depend on healthy, educated farming families. One Health Impact Statement Conventional disciplinary-based assistance programs assume that it is technical knowledge that limits food production, incomes, and living standards in rural, low-income communities. This approach overlooks how the intersection of knowledge with incentives and human capacity constrains technology adoption. Significant global investments in disciplinary-based programs have not improved smallholder cocoa yields, incomes, or family health. Our team collected data on demography, farming activities, incomes, health, and nutrition from families in 33 cocoa-growing villages in Bougainville. Results were presented back to the communities, Government and scientific community and their perspectives incorporated. Our transdisciplinary interpretation revealed that among the diverse factors examined, education levels, income diversification, and family health have the strongest impacts on poverty. This deeper understanding of the intersecting factors in poverty informs the prioritisation and development of more effective, One Health approaches to poverty alleviation.