Sites and areas of study

The study was conducted in two TAFSs: a) Cerro Camarón, municipality of San Pedro Ixcatlán, Oaxaca; and b) Nuevo Ojital, municipality of Papantla, Veracruz (Figures 1a and 1b). Both have a warm-humid climate with rains in summer, the natural vegetation is evergreen and semievergreen medium rain forests, the native groups correspond to Mazatecs in San Pedro and Totonacs in Papantla. Table 1 shows the climatic characteristics, topography and soils of the two TAFSs, Papantla and San Pedro.

Figure 1a Geographic location of the locality of Cerro Camarón, municipality of San Pedro Ixcatlán, Oaxaca (https://mapcarta.com/es/ N473375173/Mapa). 

Figure 1b Geographic location of the locality of Nuevo Ojital, municipality of Papantla, Veracruz (https://mapcarta.com/es/ N473375173/Mapa). 

Productive diversification

It was codesigned with the producers in February 2012: an experimental plot of 0.5 ha was established within each TAFS. In the rainy season, June-September 2012, four clones of cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) of high productivity were planted: Inifap-1, Inifap-8, Inifap-9 and Neocriollo (^{López, 2014}), 150 plants for each clone, resulting in a total of 600 plants in 0.5 ha. In both plots, a variety of mansa vanilla (Vanilla planifolia A.), obtained from neighboring plots, was planted with cuttings 80-100 cm long, healthy and vigorous, under tutors of orange (Citrus sinensis), colorín (Erythrina americana) and coffee (Coffea arabica), until having 800 and 400 cuttings in 0.5 ha, for Papantla and San Pedro, respectively.

Mixed edaphic bacterial inoculants were applied as biofertilizers at the time of planting (^{Hipólito et al., 2017}), without applying any additional fertilizer. Management consisted of annual manual weeding, formation and maintenance pruning for cacao, channeling for vanilla, pest and disease control with biopreparations (^{IPES/FAO, 2010}).

Canopy structure of the agroforestry system

Table 2 presents the records of the dominant (most frequent) trees in the upper and middle canopy: average height, diameter at breast height (DBH) and crown cover and for the upper canopy, crown richness, density and cover (^{Somarriba et al., 2018}).

Sustainability assessment

The methods were based on the framework of assessment of natural resource management systems (MESMIS, for its acronym in Spanish) (^{Astier et al., 2008}; ^{Speelman et al., 2007}). A timeline was constructed for each TAFS diversified with cacao and vanilla, the ethnoecological explorations consisted of two knowledge dialogue workshops, six interviews and two surveys with producers and their families.

The workshops included the selection of the farms, the experimental design and the agroecological management program. With the participation of producers and their families, sustainability indicators and their critical points were defined. Annual activities were carried out: management training, technology transfer and business development; as well as tours, observations and direct measurements in the agroecological components of the TAFSs, family orchards and home (^{Altieri and Nicholls, 2002}; ^{del Amo et al., 2010}; ^{Alcázar et al., 2019}; ^{Cuevas et al., 2019}).

Critical points and indicators of sustainability

Ten indicators and their critical points were identified. Table 3 presents the methods and criteria for assessing sustainability indicators and their relationship with sustainability dimensions. Internal subsystems were also identified: the home and the family orchard; as well as external subsystems: agroecological technologies, labor, services, training, tools, equipment, materials and consumables; in their biophysical, biotic contexts, and local-regional socioeconomic aspects.

Temporal narrative of the project

From February to December 2012, the experimental plots were established within the TAFSs, researchers from the Veracruzan University (UV, for its acronym in Spanish) and technicians from the Nestlé of Mexico Cacao Plan (NMCP) carried out two workshops of diagnosis and participatory design: productive diversification of TAFS with cacao and vanilla (^{Hipólito and Ramos, 2020}). At the beginning of the project, there were two groups of 10 women each, who made handicrafts: a) mujeres artesanas de la vainilla, SC de RL de CV, in Papantla; and b) grupo de artesanías de vainilla, Cerro Totomoztle, SC de RL de CV. The capacity of handicraft making, depending on the cultivation area of each TAFS, was 50-100 kg 3 ha^-1, green vanilla per year and 150-200 kg 10 ha^-1, respectively.

From 2013 to 2014, annual workshops on rural community strengthening were held: agroecological management, technology transfer and rural business development. The groups of artisans were dissolved due to organizational problems and continued activities at the family level, in Papantla they established the company Vanilla el Ojital, SC de RL and in San Pedro they continued at the family level without registration. In 2019 and 2020, the sustainability assessments of this study were carried out following the MESMIS methodology, the results of which are shown below.

Agroecological characteristics of cacao-vanilla TAFSs

The shade of the upper canopy was adjusted to 40-60% of cover as established in the agroecological management plan, in areas with less cover banana (Musa paradisiaca) and cassava (Manihot esculenta) were planted as temporary shade, along with allspice (Pimenta dioica) and red cedar (Cedrela odorata) as permanent shade, pruning and thinning were carried out in areas with excess cover. Organic fertilization includes covers of legumes jack beans (Canavalia ensiformis) and velvet beans (Mucuna pruriens) and keeping weedings in place. Pruning includes training, maintenance and phytosanitation, integral pest and disease control includes the use of biopreparations.

Socioeconomic and cultural dimensions

The socioeconomic and cultural dimensions for the external subsystems of the cacao-vanilla TAFSs are described in Tables 4 and 5. The most significant input variables were agroecological, technological and business training, external labor in support of farm management, and drinking water and biofuel services (Table 4). The academics of the UV and technicians of the NMCP were in charge of the advice and training, it is important to mention the activities of the whole family and occasionally day laborers (mainly men) in the agroecological management of crops within the TAFS: pruning, shade management, weeding, biological fertilization, composting, integral management of pests and diseases and harvesting.

The construction of community capacities and the restoration of the cultural fabric was implemented through the reinforcement of social capital with the field schools for the technological and business training of the families that manage the productive systems (del Amo et al., 2010). The following workshops and training activities were developed: a) traditional and technified processing of vanilla fruits, for the production of vanilla of extra quality and the preparation of vanilla extracts and liqueurs; b) cacao fermentation, drying, roasting and grinding processes to prepare artisanal chocolate; and c) family and community business organization to market in fair and solidarity markets.

Table 5 shows the outflows to the external market subsystem, of TAFS products to local and regional markets and the profits derived from them. The reference TAFS refers to the products of the species that already existed and continue to be produced and marketed, the alternative TAFS is presented as cacao-vanilla TAFS, after eight years of establishment.

For San Pedro, the highest proportion of total sales correspond to pacaya palm (61%), coffee (17%) and cacao (10%), in lower proportions are cedar, vanilla and banana (12%). The average price of dried cacao in the last five years averages $55.00 kg^-1, with collectors and up to $75.00 kg^-1 in the Tuxtepec market. The average annual production in San Pedro, 500 kg, corresponds to $27 500.00 year^-1 in the local market and $37 500.00 year^-1 in Tuxtepec, without considering production and freight costs. The production of green vanilla, 75 kg on average, corresponds to $15 000.00 with collectors ($200.00 kg^-1) and up to $30 000.00 in Tuxtepec ($400.00 kg^-1). By processing vanilla 15 kg are obtained, for the loss of water, in Tuxtepec it is sold at $2 500.00 kg^-1, corresponding to an income of $37 000.00 year^-1 without considering production costs.

For Papantla, the little cacao they produce is used for self-consumption; while the vanilla processed represent 80-90% of total sales, the other products: orange, cacao, cedar and mahogany correspond to 10-20% of income. Green vanilla is marketed in Papantla for $300.00-500.00 with collectors and already processed it reaches prices of $6 000.00 to 8 000.00 kg^-1, depending on the quality. The family produced 250 kg year^-1 at the beginning of the project and for the biennium 2018-20 19 it reached an average of 550 kg year^-1 on the entire farm. They obtained an average of 110 kg of vanilla processed, 2/3 parts of 1^st and 2^nd quality that are sold directly at an average price of $8 000.00 and $6 000.00 kg^-1, respectively, obtaining profits of $293 000.00 and $220 000.00. The third-quality processed vanilla (approximately 37 kg) is transformed into 370 L of extract which corresponds to $290 000.00 at an average of $800.00 L^-1.

For San Pedro, a benefit-cost ratio of cacao-vanilla TAFS of 1.22 was obtained, which can be interpreted as a profitable system. For Papantla, taking into account the added value of the products currently marketed by the microenterprise, the B/C ratio reaches 2.1, high enough to meet basic needs and have remnants for maintenance and investment in technology that makes the cacao-vanilla TAFS more productive and efficient.

Equity, resilience and self-management

The participation of women and young people is very important in the attributes of equity, resilience and self-management, in the two families and TAFSs assessed it is very significant in key activities of the productive and transformation chain towards a value chain. Although the fieldwork is carried out mainly by men, young people, adults and older adults, in some management activities women also collaborate, mainly in the harvest of cacao and the pollination of vanilla.

Women work mainly in domestic chores, including carrying firewood and water, they also support postharvest vanilla activities to produce and sell the processed vanilla and extracts and cacao transformation to make and market chocolate. Young people, women and men, from both families, show interest in continuing with the cacao-vanilla TAFS and continuing with value-added and business technological activities for the production and commercialization of different products derived from cacao and vanilla.

Identification of critical points for sustainability attributes

The risk factors and opportunities of the critical points (strengths and weaknesses of the cacao-vanilla TAFS), for the different areas and attributes of sustainability, are shown in Table 6. For most of the critical points, the two families have similar strengths and weaknesses, which allows establishing common criteria for improvement through strategic plans of integral management that include agroecological, technological and business aspects.

The weaknesses and risks were observed in the attributes of productivity and stability, all of them related to the greater complexity of a cacao-vanilla AFS, in relation to the reference TAFS, mainly due to the agroecological management which is more intensive, complex and requires more inputs. Practices and value-added technologies and the search for fair and solidarity regional markets are a weakness for San Pedro and are a strength for Papantla, which highlights the important role of training, advice on aspects of value-added technologies, business development and commercialization, in the attributes of stability, adaptability and organization.