In June and July, our team carried out fieldwork in cacao plantations in Cameroon, together with our partners at the University of Dschang, in collaboration with Prof. Marie Caroline Momo Solefack.
Cameroon is one of the world’s major cacao producers, and most of its cacao is grown by smallholder farmers in agroforestry systems. In plantations around Makénéné, we ran a pilot study on how the microclimate inside plantations relates to the abundance of potential cacao pollinators.
This builds on our earlier work. The tiny midges that pollinate cacao appear to be sensitive to hot, dry conditions, so the shade, humidity and temperature inside a plantation may influence how many pollinators are present, and how well cacao flowers are pollinated. Understanding these links could help identify plantation management practices that support pollinators and, in turn, cacao production.
We warmly thank the farmers who welcomed us onto their plantations, and Dr. Alex Fomekong and Djibril for their help during the fieldwork.
