Setting Priorities among Indigenous Fruit Tree Species in Africa: Examples from Southern, Eastern and Western Africa Regions - Indigenous Fruit Trees in the Tropics: Domestication, Utilization and Commercialization - page 3

DESK STUDIES

1.
Team building
and planning

2.
Defining client
groups

WORKSHOP 1

3.
Assessment of
preferred species

time

FIELD WORK AND
DESK STUDIES

4.
Product
prioritization

5.
Identification of
key species

WORKSHOP 2

6.
Valuation and
ranking

FIELD WORK

7.
Choice of
species

WORKSHOP 3

Fig. 1.1. The priority-setting process for indigenous fruit species. Note that steps 2 and 4 can
be initiated before the workshop, but the consensus on the results of these steps should be
achieved in the workshop. Feedback is important at each step.

1.2.1 Team building and planning

In each region, workshops were held to build an effective team among the
participants and different institutions. Most participants were from national
research institutes, national extension services, universities, and ICRAF.
Participants developed a consensus on the application of the priority-setting
approach and the modifications that would be required. National teams
designed and implemented the surveys in their respective countries. The teams
met periodically in regional meetings to compare findings. The team in
southern Africa decided to restrict their initial surveys to preferences among
indigenous fruit trees, whereas participants in the Sahel and the humid
lowlands of West Africa examined preferences among all indigenous trees.
Recent surveys in southern Africa have assessed preferences among both
indigenous and exotic fruit trees.