Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
suboptimal management or because their full genetic potential is not exploited;
(ii) remain semi- or undomesticated; (iii) have not been the object of scientific
study until fairly recently; and (iv) as a result of increasing human and animal
populations, which are causing environmental pressures on the land, are
declining in population size. This resulted in a total of 11 trees: Balanites
aegyptiaca Del., Berchemia discolor (Klotzsch) Hemsley, Borassus aethiopum
Mart., Carissa edulis , Cordeauxia edulis Hemsl., Parinari curatellifolia ,
Sclerocarya birrea , Strychnos cocculoides Baker, Vangueria madagascariensis J.F.
Gmel., Vitellaria paradoxa and Vitex payos (Lour.) Merr. (Teklehaimanot, 2005).
The field survey was conducted in 26 villages located in 16 regions or
districts in the five countries. A total of 167 local community members (90
farmers, 20 pastoralists, 19 traders and 38 other local community members) were
interviewed during the course of the survey. The results of the survey showed
that species ranking by the local people varied between the five countries. The
top-ranking species were Sclerocarya birrea in Tanzania, Balanites aegyptiaca in
Sudan, Cordeauxia edulis in Ethiopia, Vitellaria payos in Uganda and Vitex
payos in Kenya (Table 11.1) (Teklehaimanot, 2005). The major reasons for such
disparity may be species distribution, indigenous knowledge and economic
pursuits of the local communities visited. The results of the field survey also
showed that, among the national priority species, Carissa edulis and Parinari
curatellifolia did not rank top according to local people's preferences. Therefore,
combining the results of the two priority-setting exercises (Chikami et al. , 2005;
Teklehaimanot, 2005) resulted in eight priority indigenous tree species for
domestication with potential to improve dryland agriculture in Eastern Africa:
Adansonia digitata , Balanites aegyptiaca , Cordeauxia edulis , Sclerocarya birrea ,
Tamarindus indica , Vitellaria paradoxa , Vitex payos and Ziziphus mauritiana .
These results are in agreement with findings of species priorities set in the
drylands of southern and West Africa. Some of the above tree species are
common to all three regions, so there is good scope for germplasm exchange and
other forms of collaboration. For example, in West Africa Adansonia digitata ,
Table 11.1. Ranking (top five) of indigenous tree species for domestication by local
communities in Eastern Africa.
Species
Ethiopia
Kenya
Sudan
Tanzania
Uganda
Balanites aegyptiaca
3
3
1
5
3
Berchemia discolour
-
2
-
-
-
Borassus aethiopum
4
-
2
-
2
Carissa edulis
-
4
-
-
4
Cordeauxia edulis
1
-
-
-
-
Parinari curatellifolia
-
-
-
3
-
Sclerocarya birrea
5
5
3
1
5
Strychnos cocculoides
-
-
-
2
-
Vangueria madagascariensis
-
-
-
4
-
Vitellaria paradoxa
2
-
4
-
1
Vitex payos
-
1
5
-
-
Source: Teklehaimanot (2005).
 
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