Upper canopy tree cover in cocoa agroforestry system

Climate Change is one aspect or explanation of how the livelihood of farmers can be threatened. (Cocklebur, 2012) In Ghana, the climate has changed over the last years of which crops are getting destroyed due to periods of extreme heat and heavy rains. As Mambo and colleagues outline in their paper, climate change mitigation in Africa to date has largely focused on reforestation and forest protection. This has often conflicted with the need to expand agricultural production to feed the continent's growing population.

But this need not be the case, says Mambo, as exaggerators may be able to deliver both on increasing tree cover to store carbon while also enhancing agricultural productivity. Cocoa cultivation maintains a higher proportions of upper canopy crown cover (cocoa exaggerators) which is increasingly being viewed as a sustainable land use practice that is environmentally preferable to other forms of agricultural activities in tropical forest regions because it contributes to biodiversity conservation and income diversification.

Properly managed cocoa exaggerators systems play a crucial role in helping farmers adapt and build resilience to uncertain climates. (Langford, 2014). Upper canopy trees can provide a buffer against climatic extremes that impact crop growth. They can enhance understood growth and improve water use efficiency. These trees have also been shown to increase rainfall utilization compared to annual cropping systems. And are known to have a direct impact on local and regional rainfall patterns, so they also have considerable potential to alleviate drought in parts of Africa. Mambo et. Al, 2014). The use of production landscapes in Ghana for cocoa reduction has intensified dramatically over the last three decades. (UNDO, 2014). This research will examine the evolution of the cocoa sector in Ghana primarily to understand the factors that have contributed to the success of the use of upper canopy crown cover and to look for lessons for fostering agricultural transformation. The relatively dense forest that characterized the initial cultivation of cocoa in Ghana maintained the natural ecosystem suitable for cocoa growth.

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The District Administrative capital Jabots is located km to the north-west of Seconds Dictator Metropolitan, the regional capital and a distance of km from Kumara, the Shanty regional capital. The District shares borders with Bib and Sauna's North Municipal in the North, Sauna's South and Body District to the east, Seaman District to the south and La Cote divorce to the west. 1. . 2 Materials Materials needed for this study will include the following; Measuring tape; for measuring the length of trees, branches and crowns.

Densitometers; for measuring of the diameters of trees and branches. Hypocrites for measuring tree height Releasers ; to determine the upper diameter of big trees Calipers, either wooden beam or finish parabolic will be used to measure tree diameters when the diameters are not over CACM. Compass; to check directions of NSA and EWE. Sampling intensity This study will be conducted in 12 cocoa farms in the vicinity of Bib district. These farms will be selected purposely base on the maturity of the cocoa exaggerators system practiced.

The spread of that line is horizontal distance between those two positions. On steeply sloping ground (>1 5 degrees) the taped distance between the two points can be corrected to a true horizontal by using basic trigonometry. Horizontal distance = coos (inclination) x slope distance. The area of the crown may be estimated employing the assumption that is equivalent to the area off circle defined by an average crown diameter. The linear ape will be used to measure the length of crown margin in the direction of NSA, and EWE.

The average may be obtained using arithmetic mean of the maximum and minimum crown diameter. These equations will be used in determining the crown surface area and volume; Crown surface area; L/2 Crown volume; 2 hoc / 12 Where d = diameter at the base of the crown (m), hoc = crown depth (m), and L= length of crown margin (m). DATA ANALYSIS Data acquired from the sampling intensity will be analyzed using analytical software, GENERATE (VS. international version 2011). Species composition and crown diameters f trees will be compared using the analysis of variance and statistical test.

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