Papers by Francisco Aguilar
Cacao (Theobroma cacao), a perennial crop predominantly cultivated as a multi-product and multi-s... more Cacao (Theobroma cacao), a perennial crop predominantly cultivated as a multi-product and multi-strata agroforestry system, has been identified as one of an array of factors behind land use changes in the tropics. Concerns have also been raised about the gradual shift from traditional cacao growing systems under diverse and dense tree canopy to lower or no-shade cover, leading to further loss of direct and functional forest ecosystem values such as protective and regulatory environmental services. This paper surveys existing literature and focuses on changes to biodiversity, carbon sequestration and nutrient cycling conditions due to a transition from natural forests to traditional lower-density agroforestry and high-density hybrid monoculture cacao systems. We derive marginal effects on selected ecosystem functions expressed as a percentage unit change in corresponding ecosystem values from a natural forest baseline scenario. Data from 16 studies conducted in Africa and the Americas show a negative trend in marginal changes in above-and below-ground carbon sequestration potential for the two cacao farming systems. The extent of marginal losses in carbon storage was comparatively higher for the monoculture than cacao agroforestry system. A general trend denoting positive marginal changes has been reported for mean species richness in soil and litter and some essential chemical and physical soil properties (Calcium, Magnesium, sand and silt) of cacao agroforestry systems compared with a natural forest baseline. The balance between negative and positive changes show that traditional cacao agroforestry systems have greater potential for conservation of ecosystem services closer to a natural forest state than monocultures
Resources for the Future. www. rff. …, 2005
In a developing country context, a policy to promote adoption of common environmental content for... more In a developing country context, a policy to promote adoption of common environmental content for corporate codes of conduct (COCs) aspires to meaningful results on two fronts. First, adherence to COC provisions should offer economic benefits that exceed the costs of compliance; i.e., companies must receive a price premium, market expansion, efficiency gains, subsidized technical assistance, or some combination of these benefits in return for meeting the requirements. Second, compliance should produce significant improvements in environmental outcomes; i.e., the code must impose real requirements, and monitoring and enforcement must offer sufficient incentives to prevent evasion. With those goals in mind, we explore options for establishing common environmental content in voluntary COCs. Because the benefits of a COC rest on its ability to signal information, we ground our analysis in a review of experiences with a broad range of voluntary (and involuntary) information-based programs: not only existing corporate COCs, but also the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) family of standards, ecolabels, and information disclosure programs. We find some important tradeoffs between harmonization, applicability, feasibility, and efficacy.
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Papers by Francisco Aguilar