Abstract
The cocoa is an important socio-cultural and economic activity in São Tomé and Príncipe (STP) and the largest contributor to country’s GDP and exports. However, small producers linked to this chain, connected into two cooperatives, faced several significant trade-offs between the organic cocoa production, with some advantages related to its superior market value and fine flavour or, to replace it, with others more productive and profitable crops. This study aimed to analyse the risk behaviour of organic cocoa producers in STP in the context of their livelihood strategies, through the application of a questionnaire to a sample of 230 rural families. The results showed no differences in governance between the two cooperatives. A theoretical model was used to determine the relationships between risk components and livelihood strategies. The results show that risk perceptions are more important than risk attitudes in deciding risk mitigation strategies. Furthermore, perceptions play a mediating role between farmers' risk attitudes and the risk management strategies adopted by them. These results advocate policy measures geared towards farmers' perceptions of risk in order to implement successful risk management strategies.
Keywords:
organic cocoa; smallholders; behaviour; strategies; risk