Ecology and Biology of Uapaca kirkiana, Strychnos cocculoides and Sclerocarya birrea in Southern Africa - Indigenous Fruit Trees in the Tropics: Domestication, Utilization and Commercialization - page 322

18 Ecology and Biology of

Uapaca kirkiana , Strychnos
cocculoides and Sclerocarya
birrea in Southern Africa

P. W. C HIRWA 1 AND F.K. A KINNIFESI 2

1 Department of Forest and Wood Science, Stellenbosch University,
Stellenbosch, South Africa ; 2 World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF),
Lilongwe, Malawi

18.1 Introduction

Indigenous fruit trees provide a major part of the food and nutritional
requirements of people living in sub-Saharan Africa. In Zimbabwe, wild fruit
trees represent about 20% of total woodland resource use by rural households
(Campbell et al ., 1997; Akinnifesi et al ., 2006). Several studies have reported
the sale of Uapaca kirkiana (Muell. Arg.), Ziziphus mauritiana (Lam.), Strychnos
cocculoides (DC ex. Perleb) and Parinari curatellifolia (Planch. ex. Benth.) to
generate income and as means of livelihood (Ramadhani, 2002; Akinnifesi et
al ., 2006). In South Africa, Shackleton et al . (2002) and Shackleton (2004) have
reported the widespread use of Sclerocarya birrea fruits for making beer, jam
and juice. Utilization and trade of fruits are integral components of local
economies and culture and play important roles in household welfare. During
woodland clearing prior to cultivation or settlement, important fruit trees,
such as Parinari curatellifolia , Strychnos cocculoides and Uapaca kirkiana , are
customarily left uncut and scattered around homesteads or crop fields. Packham
(1993) has reported similar cases for Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe, where P.
curatellifolia and U. kirkiana are left deliberately in cultivated fields. With
commercialization of some of these important indigenous fruit trees, over-
harvesting of the target species is likely to be common and deforestation and
increasing population are directly affecting the survival of these species. While
recent studies in the miombo woodlands show U. kirkiana , P. curatellifolia and
S. cocculoides to be the most important species (Kwesiga et al ., 2000; Akinnifesi
et al ., 2004), S. birrea subsp. caffra is the single most important indigenous
species in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Swaziland (Shackleton and
Scholes, 2002; Shackleton, 2004).