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Voices on Climate: "Trees create a microclimate and lower stress underneath their canopy"

Stéphane Sanj.

Stéphane Saj is an agroecologist and systems researcher at FiBL in Switzerland. (Photo: FiBL, Adrian Krebs)

Agroforestry systems help to create cooler local conditions during the hottest hours of the day. This is one of the key findings of FiBL’s SysCom project, which is investigating, amongst other things, cocoa cultivation in agroforestry systems in Bolivia. In our series "Voices on Climate", FiBL systems researcher Stéphane Saj discusses the impact of trees and the limits of what is possible.

For over 15 years, Stéphane Saj has been researching tropical agroforestry systems, focusing on cocoa production, biodiversity, yield performance and climate resilience. Since 2023, he has been coordinating long-term research as part of SysCom Bolivia, working with producers and partners to better understand how agricultural systems can achieve sustainability at FiBL in Switzerland.

In his "Voice on Climate", he explains what climate change actually means on a cocoa farm and how agroforestry can help farmers cope with increasing climate stress. Since 2008, FiBL has been conducting a long-term comparative research trial in Alto Beni, Bolivia, which is providing new insights. The region lies between the Amazon lowlands and the foothills of the Andes and is extremely sensitive to climatic fluctuations.

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