Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 1.6.
Priority indigenous species for the African humid tropics, 2006.
Scientific name
Common name(s)
Fruit trees
Irvingia gabonensis
Andok, bush mango
Dacryodes edulis
African plum, atanga, safou
Ricinodendron heudelotii
Essang, njanssang
Garcinia kola
Bitter cola, onie
Chrysophyllum albidum
White star apple
Cola
spp.
Cola
Medicinal plants
Prunus africana
Pygeum
Pausinystalia johimbe
Yohimbe
Vegetables
Gnetum africanum
Afang, eru, okasi, okok
Spices and edible oils
Afrostyrax lepidophyllus
Country onion
Monodora myristica
Faux muscadier
Allanblackia
spp.
Nsangomo
Other
Annickia chlorantha
Moambe jaune
Macronetum combretum
Liane de vers
Source: ICRAF (2006).
potential of the tree product to earn cash income for poor farmers, especially in
response to favourable market opportunities (A. Degrande, 2006, personal
communication).
1.3.2 Semi-arid Sahelian zone of West Africa
The area surveyed extends across Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger at the
southern margins of the Sahara desert. Rainfall ranges from 350 to
850 mm/year and altitude from 0 to 350 m above sea level. In listing the top
14 or 15 species in the four countries, the maximum number of species could
have been 59 had there been no species in common among countries, whereas
with complete agreement between countries, only 15 would have been listed.
The actual number of 28 (Table 1.7) shows that there is general interest
throughout the region in a number of species and this augurs well for regional
tree domestication initiatives. Most striking is that baobab (
Adansonia digitata
)
is a clear favourite across the region, closely followed by karité (
Vitellaria
paradoxa
) and tamarind (
Tamarindus indica
). Seven species were mentioned in
all four countries, one was mentioned in three countries, eight were recorded in
two countries, and 12 were recorded in only one country. Interestingly, only
two of the 28 species are exotic to West Africa and even those have been
widely naturalized there (
Azadirachta indica
and tamarind).
As in the humid lowlands of West Africa, trees providing food dominated
farmers' choices among species. In Mali, for example, eight of the top ten
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