Accelerated Domestication and Commercialization of Indigenous Fruit and Nut Trees to Enhance Better Livelihoods in the Tropics: Lessons and Way Forward - Indigenous Fruit Trees in the Tropics: Domestication, Utilization and Commercialization - page 400

4. Defining criteria for choosing trees with the most important products, and
identifying them.
5. Selecting a limited number of species (usually four or five) with the greatest
economic potential from step 3 above.
6. Primary data collection from household surveys. This provides quantitative
information needed for priority-setting.
7. The final step was to synthesize results, review the process and approve the
choice of priority species (Franzel et al. , 1996). The data-collection instrument,
function and application have been detailed by Franzel et al. (1996).
This priority-setting methodology was tested in West Africa during the
period 1993-1995 (Jaenicke et al. , 1995; Adeola et al. , 1998) and in southern
Africa in 1996-1997 (Kadzere et al. , 1998; Maghembe et al. , 1998). The top
five indigenous tree species identified in the humid zone of West Africa (Nigeria
and Cameroon) were Irvingia gabonensis , Dacryodes edulis , Ricinodendron
heudelotii , Chrysophyllum albidum and Garcinia kola (Franzel et al. , 1996;
Aiyelaagbe et al. , 1997; Tchoundjeu et al. , 2006; Chapter 2, this volume). Two
varieties of Irvingia gabonensis were reportedly domesticated in West Africa,
and a national workshop was held on Chrysophyllum albidum in April 1999 to
salvage much of the valuable gene pool in the wild (Ladipo et al. , 1999).
The priority-setting guidelines were also applied in southern Africa, although
thoughts on IFT domestication were discussed, starting from an international
conference held in Malawi in 1995 (Maghembe et al. , 1995). A household survey
was conducted in Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania and Zimbabwe (Chapter 2). The top
priorities are discussed in Chapters 2 and 8. In addition, the approach has been
expanded to include product prioritization (Ham and Akinnifesi, 2006) and
consumer assessment through market surveys (Kwesiga and Mwanza, 1995;
Minae et al. , 1995; Ramadhani, 2002; Mmangisa, 2006; Chapters 1, 8, 13 and
14, this volume). Relative preferences for indigenous as opposed to exotic fruit
trees were investigated in the new surveys. Updating of the consolidated results
from various approaches used in the region was detailed in Chapter 8. The final
list of species included Uapaca kirkiana , Strychnos cocculoides , Parinari
curatellifolia , Ziziphus mauritiana and Adansonia digitata (Chapter 2). There were
also country-specific priority species (Chapter 8). Farmers indicated fruit and tree
traits that were important, such as fruit size, taste, pulp content, shelf life, and
small tree size (Kadzere et al. , 1998). In another regional workshop conducted in
Malawi in November 2000, the top five priority indigenous fruit tree species
indicated by participants from eight SADC countries were: U. kirkiana , Z.
mauritiana , S. cocculoides , S. birrea and P. curatellifolia . This confirmed findings
from several other studies that U. kirkiana is the most preferred IFT species
(Ramadhani, 2002; Akinnifesi et al. , 2006; Chapters 1 and 8, this volume).
However, mango and orange were the top two fruits generally preferred when
exotics were considered, while U. kirkiana ranked second overall (F.K. Akinnifesi,
unpublished data).
Teklehaimanot (Chapter 11) also documented the priority-setting results from
eastern Africa using two approaches. A regional workshop by AFREA-IPGRI and
national partners, and a two-stage field approach involving: (i) national priority-