Assessing diversified farming’s effects on Central American cacao and coffee smallholders’ food security and vulnerability

Diversified farming is one of several agroecological strategies for reducing smallholders’ risk and building resilience to climate change and other hazards. Accumulating evidence shows that farmers can use agroecology to improve household food security and influence food system transformations. However, additional research is needed to identify which agroecological strategies are used by whom and to what degree diversification, household characteristics, context, or other strategies contribute to farmer well-being and resilience. In 2022, we conducted a livelihood, agriculture, and food security survey with 429 randomly sampled smallholders, including 309 coffee farmers in northern Nicaragua’s Segovias region and 120 cacao farmers in north-central Nicaragua’s Waslala region. We examined the relationships linking diversified production—and other key agroecological principles—to food security, water security, and dietary diversity. We integrated statistical analysis into our participatory mixed methods approach using partner feedback to help design the survey and 13 farmer interviews to inform and interpret the statistical models. We found that cacao farmers in the wetter growing zone reported more crop diversity and organic production and less seasonal hunger than coffee growers. Food and input price inflation were more pressing concerns than the impact of hurricanes Eta and Iota for all producers. Our multivariate analysis found that significant correlates of food security included surplus subsistence (corn and bean) production, water security, farm size, and income. Product diversity and farmers’ formal education correlated significantly with household dietary diversity. This study finds evidence that agroecological diversified farming can enhance food security and dietary diversity among coffee and cacao smallholders. This is among the first studies comparing how cacao and coffee farmers’ diversified and agroecological production strategies relate to food security, water security, nutrition, and vulnerability, potentially holding implications for the 15 million plus smallholder coffee and cacao growers seeking more sustainable livelihoods and landscapes.