Not Just a Four Month Vacation

I realized that my previous posts make it sound like all I’m doing here in Costa Rica for four months is eating chocolate, drinking coffee and hanging out at the beach.  While I’m definitely enjoying my fair share of adventure, I am working on academics as well.  The first month in San José was actually pretty stressful.  We had four short weeks to decide on a project, perform a literature review, and write a detailed research proposal so we were ready to leave for the field at the end of February.  On top of that work, we had four hours of Spanish class every day.  It was a whirlwind of a month, exciting and fun but also stressful to try to fit in time to work on homework while also developing and maintaining a relationship with my host family.  

Now, for the months of March and April, all seventeen of us in the ACM program are at different locations around the country of Costa Rica carrying out our independent research projects.  I am living with a new host family in Pueblo Nuevo de Guácimo, a tiny agricultural village near the Caribbean Sea.  For my research project, I am comparing the quality of the soil under different agricultural systems in the area.  

The "main street" in Pueblo Nuevo

Many years ago, this region was entirely rainforest, but over the last 50 years the majority has been deforested and replaced by cattle pasture, banana plantations or pineapple plantations.  This has destroyed the habitats of many native animals and led to a reduction in biodiversity as well as a decrease in soil quality due to monocropping (planting only one crop – like cornfields in the Midwest) and application of chemicals.  However, many people who live in this region make their living working in agriculture.  One alternative to banana or pineapple monoculture is agroforestry, a system in which one primary crop is grown under the shade of several varieties of taller trees.  Some studies have shown that agroforestry systems can more closely mimic the biodiversity and soil quality of natural rainforests.  

We hiked up a hill with Geovanny, a researcher on the farm, to see the cacao farm from above.

Here are three of my study sites!

My project is going to focus on an organic cacao farm under agroforestry management, comparing its soil quality with the other agricultural systems that border it (pasture, banana and pineapple).  I hope to show that the soil quality is greater under the cacao system, to strengthen the case for cacao agroforestry as an alternative agricultural system that can continue to provide a way of life for local farmers while maintaining a healthy environment.  I’ll be taking soil samples from the different sites to send to the University of Costa Rica for chemical analysis, as well as comparing earthworm abundance, leaf litter accumulation, water infiltration, and soil bulk density.  

Banana Plantation

Pineapple Plantation

Cacao Plantation

Pasture

 After two months in the field collecting data, I’ll return to San José for the last month of the program, to analyze my data and write up a final paper.

I’m still working out the details and learning as I go, but I’m really excited about my project.  Sustainable agriculture, particularly soil health, is something that I’m very interested in, and I hope that the results of my research will be useful.