Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
(ICRAF) domestication programme (see Akinnifesi et al. , 2006). Initially,
Maghembe et al. (1998) conducted a priority-setting exercise in which farmers
identified the most popular IFT species, which include Uapaca kirkiana , Strychnos
cocculoides and Parinari curatellifolia as the top three species in Zimbabwe.
Criteria for ranking those species were: (i) their role in food security; (ii) potential
for commercialization; (iii) suitability for processing and conservation; and (iv)
taste and abundance. The priority-setting study also included questions regarding
characteristics that should be improved. According to the farmers' viewpoint, traits
that need to be improved include fruit quality, fruiting precocity (early maturity, i.e.
first fruit production), fruit size, and morphological characteristics such as
thorniness, fruit yield, tree size and resistance to pests (Kadzere, 1998).
Research on IFT domestication has been concentrated on selecting seeds from
different locations, in order to find superior genotypes, and on developing successful
vegetative propagation methods. Ultimately, the domestication programme aims at
encouraging the on-farm planting of IFTs with improved fruit quality and higher
yields, thus enhancing farmers' income as well as contributing to the conservation of
biodiversity (ICRAF, 1996). From the point of view of rural development, the ICRAF
programme can be seen as an approach that promotes a strategy of crop
diversification based on local resources that is contrary to those favouring green
revolution-type technologies, including modern biotechnology (Leakey et al. , 2004).
The untapped potential of wild plants is seen as a means to benefit the economies of
tropical countries, to motivate improved conservation of the wild areas that supply
these crops (Evans and Sengdala, 2002), and to enhance the productivity and
sustainability of agroforestry systems (Simons, 1996).
Despite a widespread perception that indigenous fruits are an important
source of rural incomes, their actual contribution to incomes, and the reduction
of rural poverty and vulnerability, has only recently been quantified. Previous
quantitative analysis showed that more information on the economics of on-
farm planting of IFTs as an alternative to the collection of fruits from communal
areas is required (Mithöfer, 2005). Thus, in this chapter the economics of on-
farm planting and management of IFTs is assessed.
The chapter is arranged as follows. First, factors that influence the manage-
ment of IFTs are described and results of other studies are reviewed. Second, the
methodology for assessing the profitability of planting of IFTs is described. Third,
study area and data are presented and survey results on the status of IFT
management and planting, as well as farmers' reasons for planting of indigenous
and exotic fruit trees (EFTs), are described. Fourth, costs and benefits of planting
U. kirkiana trees are calculated, as well as points that show under which data
constellation on-farm planting can be expected. Finally, the chapter concludes with
an outline for further research and related development activities.
13.2 Factors Influencing Indigenous Fruit Tree Management
Farm households use indigenous fruits and other natural resources in order to
pursue a strategy of livelihood security. Such a strategy has multiple objectives,
including food self-sufficiency, social security, risk management and income. As
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