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In The Independent, Nora Berrahmouni, a forestry officer for FAO and Michele Bozzano, forestry researcher at Bioversity International, point out that for the Green Wall project to succeed, "you need to plant the right [tree] species in the right place" and involve and benefit local communities and help change the belief that taking care of the environment is a luxury.
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Risk management in the face of climate change is something we can all learn from smallholder farmers. As climate change stalks global agriculture, researchers should collaborate with smallholder farmers in enhancing the diversification of crops to ensure food security, says Emile Frison, Director General of Bioversity International.
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 | V. Ernesto MéndezVavilov-Frankel Fellowship Country: El Salvador | Year: 2001 Research Title: Traditional shade, rural livelihoods and conservation in small coffee farms and cooperatives of Western El Salvador
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Dr. Ernesto Mendez is an agroecologist with strong interests in analyzing the interactions between agriculture, livelihoods and biodiversity conservation. His research focuses on the tropical landscapes of Central America, where he has helped set up Asesoríae Investigación Interdisciplinaria para el Desarrollo Local y la Conservación (ASINDEC), a non-profit foundation that aims to inform, facilitate and support local development processes in rural areas. The foundation is currently working with coffee farmers and local NGOs to implement agroecological management, alternative marketing and local development initiatives in the Ahuachapán region in El Salvador.
Ernesto’s fellowship with Bioversity was part of his PhD dissertation research on “Traditional Shade, rural livelihoods and conservation of small coffee farms and cooperatives of western El Salvador”. The research aimed to better understand on-farm and organizational relationships affecting shade tree biodiversity and livelihoods in small farmer coffee cooperatives. Household interviews and focus groups were conducted with cooperative members, who use shade trees to produce a variety of products for home consumption and commercial sales. Tree inventories were also carried out in order to compare species populations to the nearby protected area - Parque Nacional El Imposible (PNEI). While the levels of native tree biodiversity found in the cooperatives showed promise for conservation, Ernesto’s research stressed the importance of developing conservation strategies that are compatible with farmer management and use. Besides his dissertation, Ernesto has numerous publications on the subject and continues to work on the topic today.
Ernesto is currently an Associate Professor of Agroecology & Environmental Studies in the Environmental Program and Plant & Soil Science Department at the University of Vermont in the United States.
Publications
Ernesto has many publications related to his fellowship with Bioversity, a comprehensive list of all his publications to date can be found here:
- Méndez, V.E., Bacon, C.M., Olson, M., Morris, K.S. and Shattuck, A.K. 2010. Agrobiodiversity and shade coffee smallholder livelihoods: A review and synthesis of ten years of research in Central America. Professional Geographer 62(3):357-376. [not free]
- Méndez, V.E., Shapiro E.N. and Gilbert G.S. 2009. Cooperative management and its effects on shade tree diversity, soil properties and ecosystem services of coffee plantations in western El Salvador. Agroforestry Systems 76(1):111-126.
- Bacon, C.M., Méndez, V.E. and Fox, J.A. 2008. Cultivating sustainable coffee: persistent paradoxes. In: Bacon, C. M., Méndez, V. E., Gliessman, S.R., Goodman, D. and Fox, J. A., editors. Confronting the coffee crisis: Fair Trade, sustainable livelihoods and ecosystems in Mexico and Central America. MIT Press: Cambridge, MA, U.S.A. pp. 207-236.
- Méndez, V. E. 2008. Farmer livelihoods and biodiversity conservation in a coffee landscape of El Salvador. In: Bacon, C. M., Méndez, V. E., Gliessman, S.R., Goodman, D. and Fox, J. A., editors. Confronting the coffee crisis: Fair Trade, sustainable livelihoods and ecosystems in Mexico and Central America. MIT Press: Cambridge, MA, U.S.A. pp. 207-236.
- Méndez, V. E., Gliessman, S.R. and Gilbert G.S. 2007.Tree biodiversity in farmer cooperatives of a shade coffee landscape in western El Salvador. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 119 (1-2):145-159. [not free]
- Méndez, V.E. and Lovell, S.T. 2007Ecosystem Services Conservation and Farmer Livelihoods in a Shade Coffee Landscape of Western El Salvador. Electronic Proceedings of the 2nd International Symposium on “Multi-Strata Agroforestry Systems with Perennial Crops: Making ecosystem services count for farmers, consumers and the environment.”; 17-21 September. CATIE, Turrialba, Costa Rica.
- Méndez, V.E. and Bacon, C.M. 2007. Procesos ecológicos y medios de vida agrícolas en el cultivo de café bajo sombra. LEISA Revista de Agroecología 22(4):26-28.
- Méndez, V. E. and Bacon, C. 2006. Ecological processes and farmer livelihoods in shaded coffee production. LEISA Magazine 22(4):22-23.
- Bacon, C., Méndez, V.E., and Brown, M. 2005. Participatory action-research and support for community development and conservation: Examples from shade coffee landscapes of El Salvador and Nicaragua. The Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems Research Brief #6. University of California, Santa Cruz, USA.
- Méndez, V.E. and Bacon, C. 2005.Medios de vida y conservación de la biodiversidad arbórea: las experiencias de las cooperativas cafetaleras en El Salvador y Nicaragua (Livelihoods and conservation of tree biodiversity: experiences in coffee cooperatives of El Salvador and Nicaragua). LEISA Revista de Agroecología 20(4):27-30.
- Méndez, V.E. 2005. Café con sombra y alternativas para reducir la presión del cambio del uso del suelo en la zona Sur de Ahuachapán, El Salvador (Shade coffee and alternatives to reduce pressure of land use change in the Southern zone of Ahuachapán, El Salvador). UICN - Proyecto BASIM, San José, Costa Rica.
- Méndez, V.E. 2004. Traditional shade, rural livelihoods and conservation in small coffee farms and cooperatives of western El Salvador [dissertation]. University of California, Santa Cruz, USA.
- Méndez, V. E. 2002. Fair trade networks in two coffee cooperatives of western El Salvador: an analysis of insertion through a second level organization. Case Study for the Project on "Poverty Alleviation Through Participation in Fair Trade Networks". Colorado State University/DESAL/Ford Foundation, Ft. Collins, USA.
- Méndez, V. E. 2002. Sombra, medios de vida rural y conservación en pequeñas fincas y cooperatives cafetaleras del occidente de El Salvador (Shade, rural livelihoods and conservation in small coffee farms and cooperatives of western El Salvador). In: Monro, A. and Peña-Chamorro, M. C., editors. Actas del Simposio sobre Café y Biodiversidad. Revista Protección Vegetal 12(2), Universidad de El Salvador, Facultad de Ciencias Agronómicas, San Salvador, El Salvador. pp. 63-69.
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This work by Bioversity International is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. |
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