The economic potential of fruit trees as shade in blue mountain coffee agroecosystems of the Yallahs River watershed, Jamaica W.I.

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dc.contributor.authorDavis, Herlitz
dc.contributor.authorRice, Robert
dc.contributor.authorRockwood, Larry
dc.contributor.authorWood, Thomas
dc.contributor.authorMarra, Peter
dc.date.accessioned2023-01-31T03:36:38Z
dc.date.available2023-01-31T03:36:38Z
dc.date.issued2019-04-15
dc.description© The Author(s) 2017. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . The Version of Scholarly Record of this Article is published in Agroforestry Systems, 2019, available online at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10457-017-0152-z . Keywords: Agroforestry; Coffee; Shade trees; Fruit income; Blue Mountain; Jamaica.
dc.description.abstractStudies in coffee agroecosystems often focus on the conservation and environmental benefits of this managed novel habitat, but rarely examine the socioeconomic benefit of the shade tree products themselves to coffee farmers. An examination of Blue Mountain coffee farmers along an elevation gradient within the Yallahs River watershed saw several tree species emerge as important within the agroecosystems, accounting for approximately 10% of gross farm incomes. Of the 24 tropical, subtropical or temperate fruit trees reported by farmers, eight species (Mangifera indica, Blighia sapida, two Musa sp.—bananas and plantains, Syzygium samarangense, Persea Americana, and two Citrus sp.—oranges and grapefruits), contributing US$100 or greater, accounted for more than 90% of reported fruit incomes. Our results reveal that farmers, on average, could make an additional US$443.23 and US$1485.28 per ha. per year from fruit trees used as shade on high and low elevation coffee farms, respectively. With better marketing of fruit tree products and improved conditions of existing road networks to provide access to markets, shade coffee farms could significantly improve coffee farmer livelihoods and forest-like cover within the severely degraded agricultural areas within the Yallahs River watershed.
dc.description.sponsorshipThis research was made possible by a Doctoral Fellowship in Conservation Science offered jointly by the Department of Environmental Science and Public Policy, George Mason University and the Smithsonian Institution’s National Zoological Park (NZP), a James Bond Endowment Trust grant provided to P.P. Marra and H. Davis by the Smithsonian Institution, and a grant to P.P. Marra and H. Davis from the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center Coffee Fund. Essential assistance in the field was provided by J. Carson. We would like to say a special thanks to Mr. John Fletcher, Mr. Noel Levy, and Dr. Peter Fletcher for kindly allowing me to use the Ramble Hill Estate house for accommodation during this study. To the many coffee farmers that willingly participated in the farm survey we say many thanks. Finally, this research was conducted under permits from the National Environment and Planning Agency of Jamaica.
dc.identifier.citationDavis, H., Rice, R., Rockwood, L., Wood, T., & Marra, P. (2019). The economic potential of fruit trees as shade in blue mountain coffee agroecosystems of the Yallahs River watershed, Jamaica W.I.. Agroforestry Systems, 93, 581–589. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-017-0152-z
dc.identifier.otherhttps://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-017-0152-z
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14096/219
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherSpringer Nature
dc.titleThe economic potential of fruit trees as shade in blue mountain coffee agroecosystems of the Yallahs River watershed, Jamaica W.I.
dc.typeArticle

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