Are Old Cacao Trees Really the Problem?
"These trees are too old."
It's a phrase you often read in articles about the future of cacao.
Across the world's major cocoa-producing regions, replacing aging plantations has become a central part of many sustainability strategies. The reasoning seems straightforward: older plantations often produce fewer beans, so replacing old trees with new, high-yielding varieties should improve productivity.
On the surface, it makes perfect sense.
Yet every time I hear it, I find myself thinking about our cacao trees in Costa Rica.
They are hundreds of years old.
And every season, covered with healthy pods.
The trees don't prove the research wrong.
But they do invite a question.
Perhaps we've been asking the wrong one.
What Does "Old" Actually Mean?
When researchers report that older cacao plantations produce lower yields, they're usually studying commercial farms.
But a plantation is not the same thing as an individual tree.
Over decades, many things change.
Trees die.
Shade changes.
Soils change.
Diseases spread.
Management practices evolve.
New trees may never be planted.
When production declines after fifty or sixty years, it's tempting to blame age.
But age may simply be the easiest thing to measure.
What the Research Actually Says
Recent research from Cameroon offers an interesting perspective.
Scientists compared older cacao farms in different regions and found very different outcomes.
In some areas, yields declined as plantations aged.
In others, farms maintained stable production for more than sixty years.
The difference wasn't simply how old the plantations were.
It was how they had been managed.
Farms where growers continually renewed the stand through pruning, coppicing, and natural regeneration remained productive far longer than those where the plantation gradually deteriorated.
The conclusion wasn't that old cacao trees cannot remain productive.
It was that healthy cacao systems require continual renewal.
That is a very different idea.
Trees Don't Age Like We Do
It's natural to think about trees the way we think about ourselves.
Animals grow older.
Their bodies gradually wear out.
Trees are different.
Many tree species continue growing for centuries, even millennia.
Some of the oldest living trees on Earth remain remarkably healthy despite their extraordinary age.
Cacao may not live for thousands of years, but this reminds us that chronological age alone tells us very little about the vitality of a tree.
Perhaps we should be asking not:
"How old is this tree?"
But:
"How healthy is the system that supports it?"
A Plantation Is Not a Forest
Modern agriculture often assumes that productivity follows a predictable path.
Plant.
Grow.
Peak.
Decline.
Replace.
Forests rarely work that way.
A forest is constantly renewing itself.
Individual branches die.
New shoots emerge.
Young trees grow beneath older ones.
The system changes continuously without ever truly becoming "old."
Traditional cacao agroforests share many of those qualities.
Perhaps that helps explain why some very old cacao trees continue to thrive.
Maybe We're Measuring the Wrong Thing
None of this means that rehabilitation isn't important.
Many plantations genuinely need it.
Many farmers deserve support to improve productivity and livelihoods.
But perhaps we should be cautious about saying that old trees are the problem.
Because sometimes an old tree is more than a productive tree.
It is a record of adaptation.
It has survived storms, droughts, changing climates, changing people, and changing economies.
It has continued responding to the world around it for centuries.
Perhaps the more interesting question is this:
What allows one four-hundred-year-old cacao tree to continue thriving while another plantation struggles after forty years?
Answering that question may teach us far more about the future of cacao than simply replacing what appears to be old.
Further Reading
Sustainability Isn't the Problem. The System Is. (coming August)
Four New Cacao Varieties: Why Diversity Matters (coming August)
The Remarkable Diversity of Peruvian Cacao (coming August)
Have We Been Breeding Cacao for the Wrong Things? (future article)
Can Cacao Save Rainforests? (future article)
What Does Sustainable Chocolate Actually Mean?(future article)
Why Biodiversity Matters in Cacao(future article)
Suggested Sources
Sonwa, D. J. et al. (2025). Long-term dynamics of cocoa agroforestry systems in Cameroon (agroforestry management and stand renewal).
Jagoret, P. et al. (2017). Long-term dynamics of cocoa agroforests.
Munné-Bosch, S. (2007). Aging in Perennials.
Lanner, R. M. & Connor, K. F. (2001). Does bristlecone pine senesce?
Jagoret, P., Michel-Dounias, I., & Malézieux, E. (2011)
Long-term dynamics of cocoa agroforests: A case study in central Cameroon
Agroforestry Systems, 81, 267–278.
