The ecological, economic and political effects of tree plantation intercropping on small farm forestry in the Atlantic lowlands of Costa Rica

The present study is an inter-disciplinary effort to assess the potential role of intercropping, the practice of introducing agricultural crops into the early stages of tree plantations, in improving the success of small farm reforestation in the Atlantic lowlands of Costa Rica. The second chapter uses a series of experimental plots established on-station and in farmers fields to examine the biological interactions between two native tree species (Hyeronima alchorneoides (O) and Vochysia guatemalensis Sprague) and cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz), a common intercrop. Special attention is given to the affect of weeds and weed control on the nature of these interactions. The third chapter uses a linear programming model of household decision making, based on the results of the first chapter, to examine the profitability of intercropping under different household conditions. It focuses on the effects of changes in household labor availability, land quality, and capital availability on the returns to intercropping. In the fourth chapter, the results of surveys and interviews of reforesters are used to compare the predictions and results of the first two chapters, with actual intercropping practices in the region. The household characteristics which resulted in the greatest benefits from intercropping in the linear programming model were also good predictors of who actually intercropped. Intercropping also significantly increased the level of plantation maintenance. The chapter ends by examining the different ways in which households have used intercropping to facilitate a transition from pasture or agriculture to forestry production. The final chapter places these household decisions in a broader political ecology context. It examines the local ecological, economic and political conditions created by state and non-governmental actors interested in promoting reforestation, and how they have affected small farmers in the region. Particular attention is given to the question of why these actors have ignored or discouraged the use of intercropping by farmers, and how the farmers have responded to these efforts.