# Young shade tree provision of ecosystem services: First lessons from a large-scale conversion from coffee monoculture to agroforestry in Yunnan Province, China

Clément Rigal, Jianchu Xu, Philippe Vaast

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Clément Rigal, Jianchu Xu, Philippe Vaast. Young shade tree provision of ecosystem services: First lessons from a large-scale conversion from coffee monoculture to agroforestry in Yunnan Province, China. FTA 2020 Science Conference: Forests, trees and agroforestry science for transformational change, Sep 2020, Bogor, Indonesia. pp.115-115. hal-05177165

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Submitted on 22 Jul 2025

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FTA
Science
Conference

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RESEARCH
PROGRAM ON
Forests, Trees and
Agroforestry

FTA 2020 Science Conference

Forests, trees and agroforestry
science for transformational change

14-18 | 21-25

September 2020

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Book of Abstracts

Corrigendum of 10.03.2021
FTA 2020 Science Conference

Forests, trees and agroforestry
science for transformational change

14–18 | 21–25

September 2020

Book of Abstracts
Book of Abstracts

© 2020 The CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA)

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Content in this publication is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0), http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

DOI: 10.17528/cifor/007925

Gitz V, Meybeck A, Ricci F, Belcher B, Brady MA, Coccia F, Elias M, Jamnadass R, Kettle C, Larson A, Li Y, Louman B, Martius C, Minang P, Sinclair F, Sist P, Somarriba E. (Editors). 2020. *Book of Abstracts: FTA 2020 Science Conference - Forests, trees and agroforestry science for transformational change*. 14–18 | 21–25, September 2020. Bogor, Indonesia: The CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA).

CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry
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We would like to thank all funding partners who supported this research through their contributions to the CGIAR Fund. For a full list of the 'CGIAR Fund' funding partners please see: http://www.cgiar.org/our-funders/

Any views expressed in this publication are those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of The CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA), the editors, the authors' institutions, the financial sponsors or the reviewers.
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AUTHORS

Clement Rigal†‡ XU Jianchu§ I VAAST Philippe†Δ

E-MAIL ADDRESS OF PRESENTER

clement.rigal@cirad.fr

ORGANIZATIONS

† ICRAF, Hanoi, Vietnam

‡ UMR System, CIRAD, Montpellier, France

§ ICRAF, Kunming, China

| KIB, Kunming, China

Δ UMR Eco&Sols, CIRAD, Montpellier, France

Young shade tree provision of ecosystem services: First lessons from
a large-scale conversion from coffee monoculture to agroforestry in
Yunnan Province, China

Local governments in south Yunnan Province, in China started distributing free shade tree seedlings to all coffee farmers in 2012, to support the conversion from coffee monoculture to agroforestry systems. In a few years only, shade trees were planted on virtually all coffee estates in the region (~95,000 ha), making it a rare example of large-scale conversion towards agroforestry.

Mature shade trees are known to provide a range of ecosystem services (improving soil fertility, buffering extreme climatic events, allowing revenue diversification, lowering coffee biannual production patterns, etc.) as well as some ecosystem disservices in the case of poorly selected or managed tree species (competition between shade trees and coffee for resources, higher incidence of some pests and diseases, etc.). In the present study, we measured the provision of ecosystem services and disservices of shade trees only a few years (3–5) after their introduction on coffee farms, to evaluate their rapid on-farm impact. We present here some key findings. Firstly, there is unexpected high tree species richness on coffee farms of Yunnan. Secondly, there is a clear positive impact of all investigated shade tree species on soil chemical and biological quality. Thirdly, there was a marked impact of shade trees on microclimate and they had a protective effect during a frost event in December 2017. Lastly, we show that coffee yield under shade trees could be as high as those measured in open areas, when shade tree species are carefully selected and managed.

This study shows the rapid benefits provided by the introduction of shade trees in coffee farms, and therefore the potential for agroforestry to rapidly contribute to more sustainable coffee production. It sets up a baseline for further monitoring and evaluation of this rare example of a large-scale conversion program. In particular, we advocate for further monitoring of the competition from shade trees, likely to increase as trees grow, and the possible replacement of some tree species by more compatible ones in the coming years. We also advocate for adapting the current intensive farming practices (particularly by reducing current high fertilizer inputs) to maximize the benefits provided by shade trees.

KEYWORDS

Arabica coffee, agroforestry, China, ecosystem services

REFERENCES

Rigal C, Xu J, Hu G, Qiu M and Vaast P. 2020. Coffee production during the transition period from monoculture to agroforestry systems in near optimal growing conditions, in Yunnan Province. *Agricultural Systems* 177:102696. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2019.102696

Rigal C, Xu J and Vaast P. 2020. Young shade trees improve soil quality in intensively managed coffee systems recently converted to agroforestry in Yunnan Province, China. *Plant and Soil* 453:119–37. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-019-04004-1