Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
9.2 Rationale for Participatory Tree Domestication
The humid tropical region of West and Central Africa includes the Congo
Basin, which is the world's second largest continuous rainforest after the
Amazon. It is home to more than 20 million people, who mostly depend on
natural resources for their livelihoods. With over 400 species of mammals,
1000 species of birds and 10,000 plant species, the forest harbours the most
diverse assemblages of plants and animals in Africa (CARPE, 2001). About
3000 of these plant and animal species are endemic to the region.
Farmers in West and Central Africa depend on the forest for food and
income. Shifting cultivation is widespread in the region but is increasingly
becoming unsustainable as the population increases. To overcome this problem,
new approaches are needed involving the cultivation of crops in small areas of
land in ways which increase the variety and diversity of different cropping
systems while assuring food security and income generation from sources other
than major cash crops. To identify potential new crops in the region, the World
Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) initiated a coordinated species prioritization
exercise based on farmer preference, product ranking and the market potentials
of these species in Cameroon, Nigeria, Gabon and Ghana (Franzel
et al
., 1996).
This exercise led to the identification of
Irvingia gabonensis
/
Irvingia wombolu
,
Dacryodes edulis
,
Ricinodendron heudelotii
,
Garcinia kola
,
Chrysophyllum
albidum
and
Cola
spp. as the top priority fruit and nut tree species for
domestication in West and Central Africa (Jaenicke
et al
., 1995; Franzel
et al
.,
1996). To this list were added two highly threatened medicinal plants:
Pausinystalia johimbe
and
Prunus africana
(Tchoundjeu
et al
., 1998).
Standard horticultural techniques, namely marcotting (air-layering),
grafting and rooting of juvenile cuttings, were developed to select, propagate
and mass-produce these important species, as the traits farmers wanted to see
expressed in these priority species can only be captured through vegetative
propagation when they are genetically controlled.
9.3 Where Are We with Participatory Tree Domestication in West
and Central Africa?
Participatory tree domestication involves many steps, namely:
●
Selection of priority species based on farmers' preferences and market
orientation.
●
Collection of germplasm from elite trees chosen by farmers or other users.
●
Establishment of passport data for trees from which germplasm was
collected (for future use in tracing the owners of trees in respect of property
right).
●
Development of appropriate vegetative propagation techniques for the
different species under domestication.
●
Integration of improved propagules in different cropping systems.
●
Marketing studies of products from domesticated species.
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