Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
the development community. Unlike exotic trees, indigenous trees remain semi-
domesticated or undomesticated in Eastern Africa. The reasons for this neglect
centre around: (i) a lack of information and reliable methods for measuring the
contribution of indigenous fruit trees to resident households, local communities
and the rural economy, and the ecological services provided by these trees; (ii)
the lack of world markets and production incentives related to markets and
technology (low prices offered by local and international industries may
discourage the collection and processing of these fruits); and (iii) the bias in
favour of large-scale agriculture (Scoones et al ., 1992; Teklehaimanot, 2004).
Traditionally, local communities in the drylands of Eastern Africa have
developed land-use practices that sustainably use natural resources and
effectively safeguard biological diversity. However, as a result of increased
human and livestock population pressures the productivity and sustainability of
dryland agriculture is declining. Indigenous fruit trees are continually being
destroyed by an ever-increasing population that needs new farmland, wood for
fuel and construction, and conversion to irrigated agriculture. The critical role
that trees have been playing both in terms of ecological services, including soil
fertility and microclimate amelioration, and in securing the livelihoods and food
security of the region's people is being lost. As a consequence, the communities
of the drylands of Eastern Africa remain the poorest and the most food-
insecure in the world (Darkoh, 2003; FAO, 2003; IPED, 2004).
Unless the degradation process of agriculture in the drylands (which are
expected to get drier as a result of climate change) is reversed and agricultural
methods are improved, the function of dryland agriculture in providing a direct
life-support base for Eastern Africa's population of more than 120 millions may
soon cease. One of the solutions to this problem is the improvement of dryland
agriculture by domesticating indigenous fruit trees of economic value (Leakey et
al ., 1999; Teklehaimanot, 2004). Improvement of dryland agriculture through
the judicious planting and management of the native tree species that provide
fruits that are used and traded locally and internationally can contribute to the
diversification of income and enhancement of the livelihoods of rural
communities. Increased planting of indigenous fruit trees also helps to restore the
degraded dryland ecosystem and reverse the loss of biodiversity. This chapter
presents information on the current benefits derived by local communities from
some of the most common indigenous fruit trees of Eastern Africa, the role of
these trees in providing ecological services to dryland agriculture, and how they
can be used to restore and improve dryland agriculture and provide sustainable
livelihoods for local communities.
11.2 Setting Species Priorities for Domestication
Historically, approaches to halting land degradation or restoring degraded
dryland agriculture in the Sahel have focused primarily on externally driven
tree-planting. As a result, many local community tree-planting efforts have
focused so far on fast-growing exotics such as eucalypts, which are known to
yield quick economic returns to farmers from the sale of wood (Wood and
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