At the tipping point: Can biodiversity and rural livelihoods endure uncontrolled cashew expansion in West Africa?

Our commentary explores the increase in cashew cultivation across West Africa, drawing attention to its impacts on biodiversity and livelihoods. We summarize the issue regionally, then showcase Guinea-Bissau, where we unravel the dynamics between cashew expansion, habitat and biodiversity loss, and livelihoods. Finally, we propose concrete policy measures encompassing strengthened conservation, sustainable land-use planning, enhanced farming practices, community engagement, and international market reforms. Our recommendations extend beyond both a recent review (Rege et al. 2023) and a concise policy commentary on EU deforestation law (Powell et al. 2023) in offering a roadmap for sustainable cashew cultivation.

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/96503

Citation

Guedes, P., Palmeirim, A. F., Monteiro, F., Catarino, L., Palma, L., Temudo, M. P., Henriques, M., Beja, P., Lopes, R. J., Ladle, R. J., & Powell, L. L. (2024). At the tipping point: Can biodiversity and rural livelihoods endure uncontrolled cashew expansion in West Africa? Biotropica, 56, e13374. https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.13374

Publisher

Wiley

DOI

10.1111/btp.13374

Collections

cE3c - Artigos em Revistas Internacionais

CC License

cclicense-by-nc-nd

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