Most smallholder cocoa farmers in West Africa are not equipped with the necessary tools, techniques, and practices to rejuvenate their aging cocoa farms. Instead, they rather prefer to establish new cocoa farms at the expense of forest remnants. Poor management of their overaged farms has resulted in the emergence and outbreaks of new pest species such as termites feeding on the remaining productive trees and negatively affecting overall yield. We investigated how rehabilitation pruning of cocoa trees influences termite outbreaks and yield in three cocoa agroforestry systems (rustic, intermediate and full sun systems). We monitored cocoa and non-cocoa trees at different development stages after rehabilitation pruning and assessed termite diversity and damage. We demonstrated that farm rehabilitation practices are associated with high beta diversity of shade trees and linked with a high diversity of beneficial termite species. Cocoa trees and farm age were positively correlated with the level of infestation by termite species. We also showed that rehabilitation practices improve cocoa tree vigor and yield in cocoa agroforestry systems with the intermediate systems as the most productive after pruning (167 % of yield increase after pruning). Rehabilitation pruning is a suitable practice to rejuvenate aging trees and increase short-term cocoa yield while mitigating the negative effects of insect pests such as termites. It could be recommended as an effective measure for sustainable cocoa production, thereby enhancing ecosystem services provided by local biodiversity and avoiding forest clearance.

西非大多数小农可可种植者都没有配备必要的工具，技术和实践来振兴其老化的可可农场。相反，他们宁愿以牺牲森林残余物为代价建立新的可可农场。他们过度耕种的农场管理不善，导致新有害生物的出现和爆发，例如以剩余的生产性树为食的白蚁，对总产量产生不利影响。我们调查了可可树的修复修剪如何影响三种可可农林业系统（仿古，中度和全日照系统）中白蚁的爆发和产量。我们在修剪后对处于不同发育阶段的可可树和非可可树进行了监测，并评估了白蚁的多样性和危害。我们证明了农场的恢复做法与遮荫树的高β多样性有关，并与有益白蚁物种的高度多样性有关。可可树和农场年龄与白蚁的侵染水平呈正相关。我们还表明，恢复措施可提高可可农林业系统中的可可树活力和产量，其中中间系统在修剪后产量最高（修剪后产量增加167％）。修复修剪是一种适合的做法，可以使老化的树木恢复活力并增加短期可可产量，同时减轻诸如白蚁之类的害虫的负面影响。可以建议将其作为可持续可可生产的有效措施，从而加强当地生物多样性提供的生态系统服务并避免森林砍伐。