Kunukus are traditional rural agricultural landscapes shaped by centuries of small-scale farming, livestock herding, and water harvesting in Aruba’s arid environment. Their restoration involves revitalizing heritage dryland farming practices, using drought-tolerant local crops, and applying techniques that conserve soil moisture.

Feasibility & Local Applicability

Medium–High,  culturally rooted, locally adapted

Co-benefits

Preserves agrobiodiversity, cultural identity

Equity & Vulnerability Considerations

Ensure that the revitalisation of kunuku farming benefits the people most connected to these landscapes: local farmers, landowners, and communities who rely on them. It means involving them in decision-making, respecting traditional knowledge, addressing barriers such as access to water, land rights, and making sure that support programs (training, funding, infrastructure) are accessible to smallholders, not just large or well-resourced actors.

Choose practices, crops, and technologies suited to the island’s arid climate, shallow soils, traditional farming rhythms, and existing cultural practices. Approaches must be grounded in what local farmers can maintain with their available resources, skills, and labor, rather than importing models that don’t fit local realities.

Costs

Low-medium

Case studies & Examples

• Cambisol
• Kunuku Calbas, Aruba

Literature

• Debrot, 2009, Cultural ties to the land in an arid plantation setting in Curacao, Carmabi
• Lazebnik et al., 2022, The state of cactus fences and kunukus for nature inclusivity on the island of Bonaire, Wageningen Research report number 3150,
• Verweij et al. 2022, Bonaire 2050 - putting the vision into number (annex 3), Wageningen Research report number 3168
• Post and Hengstdijk, 2023, Inventory and characterisation of food systems on Bonaire, Wageningen research report number 1281, 
• De Rooij et al., 2022, Nature Inclusive futures, Wageningen Research