Technology and agroecological resilience

Authors

Dr. Ender Iñiguez
Universidad Católica del Cibao (UCATECI)
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9609-8898
Ing.MSc. Ezequiel Echevarría
Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre Maestra PUCMM
https://orcid.org/0009-0008-8203-5413
Dra. Agripina Ramírez Sánchez
Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo (UASD), Santo Domingo, República Dominicana
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0140-152X
DOI: https://doi.org/10.63804/gb.v2i1

Keywords:

agroecology, biodiversity, cocoa, digital monitoring, environmental sustainability

Synopsis

Technology and agroecological resilience address the transformation of cocoa farming in the face of climate change challenges, integrating digital innovation with sustainable agroforestry management. Using a mixed-methods approach applied across ten farms of the National Confederation of Dominican Cocoa Farmers (CONACADO), the book documents a comprehensive intervention model based on computerized monitoring and agroecological conversion. The book is structured around two main themes: the first examines the use of geospatial and digital tools for monitoring biophysical variables, while the second details the transition process toward organic management practices and technical training. The consolidated results after two years of implementation demonstrate the viability of this synergy, reporting an average 12 % increase in crop productivity and a 15 % increase in soil organic matter content. These improvements reflect a significant recovery of soil fertility and a strengthening of functional biodiversity within production systems. Furthermore, 80 % of participating producers reported tangible benefits in economic, social, and environmental terms, confirming the view that these technologies serve as drivers of sustainability. In conclusion, this work offers a replicable methodological framework that demonstrates that digitalization and agroecology are not mutually exclusive approaches, but rather complementary ones for ensuring productive resilience in tropical ecosystems. The text serves as an essential reference for researchers, technical experts, and decision-makers interested in the sustainable future of the global cocoa sector.

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Author Biographies

Dr. Ender Iñiguez , Universidad Católica del Cibao (UCATECI)

Ender Antonio Iñiguez Freites holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural Biotechnology with a specialization in Plant Science and a Master’s degree in Sustainable Agricultural Development. He is an Associate Research Professor at the Office of the Vice Rector for Research and Graduate Academic Affairs at the Catholic University of Cibao (UCATECI) in La Vega, Dominican Republic. His research interests include digital agriculture, sustainable agroforestry systems, climate resilience in tropical crops, and biotechnology applied to agricultural production. He is the author of numerous scientific publications on technological innovation in the agricultural sector.

Ing.MSc. Ezequiel Echevarría, Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre Maestra PUCMM

Ezequiel Echevarría Zamora holds an MSc in Agroecological Sciences and is a professor in the Faculty of Biological and Natural Sciences at the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM) in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. His research focuses on agroforestry, ecological analysis of crops, and sustainable management of productive farms. He has served as principal investigator on projects related to biodiversity conservation and agricultural sustainability in the Caribbean region.

Dra. Agripina Ramírez Sánchez, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo (UASD), Santo Domingo, República Dominicana

Agripina Ramírez Sánchez holds a Ph.D. in Biodiversity and Environmental Management and a Master’s degree in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, and is a professor in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD) in the Dominican Republic. Her work focuses on rural development, community participation in agroecological projects, and the socioeconomic analysis of sustainable production systems. She has collaborated on capacity-building projects for farmers in agroforestry systems.

References

K. Singh et al., “E-Agriculture Planning Tool for Supporting Smallholder Cocoa Intensification Using Remotely Sensed Data,” Remote Sens., vol. 15, no. 14, p. 3492, Jul. 2023, doi: 10.3390/rs15143492.

L. Qiao et al., “Soil quality both increases crop production and improves resilience to climate change,” Nat. Clim. Chang., vol. 12, no. 6, pp. 574–580, Jun. 2022, doi: 10.1038/s41558-022-01376-8

A. Apicella, “Intelligent cocoa: a systematic review of artificial intelligence applications in the cocoa supply chain,” Br. Food J., vol. 127, no. 12, pp. 4473–4493, Nov. 2025, doi: 10.1108/BFJ-04-2025-0488

J. Verrelst et al., “Quantifying Vegetation Biophysical Variables from Imaging Spectroscopy Data: A Review on Retrieval Methods,” Surv. Geophys., vol. 40, no. 3, pp. 589–629, May 2019, doi: 10.1007/s10712-018-9478-y

J. E. Joseph et al., “Evaluating iSAT climate-informed agro-advisories for farm decisions and system performance in Senegal’s drylands,” Sci. Rep., vol. 16, no. 1, p. 10493, Mar. 2026, doi: 10.1038/s41598-026-44231-y

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GBV2i1

Published

April 28, 2026

Series

Glebe

Online ISSN

3103-1234

Categories

Copyright (c) 2026 Dr. Ender Iñiguez , Ing.MSc. Ezequiel Echevarría, Dra. Agripina Ramírez Sánchez (Autor/a)

License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Details about the available publication format: GBV2i1

GBV2i1

ISBN-13 (15)

978-9942-7391-9-3

Details about the available publication format: GBV2i1e1

GBV2i1e1

ISBN-13 (15)

978-9942-7391-9-3

Details about the available publication format: GBV2i1e2

GBV2i1e2

ISBN-13 (15)

978-9942-7391-9-3

How to Cite

Technology and agroecological resilience: Vol. V2i1. (2026). Editorial Unión Científica. https://doi.org/10.63804/gb.v2i1