Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
origins - a good example is cocoa (
Theobroma cacao
) which originated in
Latin America and flourishes in West Africa - just as mangoes, which
originated from India, have now become everyone's crop. On the other
hand, extreme restrictions of germplasm movement between countries and
continents will retard opportunities for developing new crops.
●
Pest problems and spread
. The introduction of new plants and selection of
cultivars for desirable traits may increase pest problems. Therefore, as IFTs
are domesticated, and improved germplasm is selected, pest management
options need to be offered as an integral part of tree management for IFTs.
●
Postharvest handling.
An aspect that has been rather less thoroughly discussed
in this topic is the postharvest handling of IFTs. This does not imply that this
aspect is less important, and some research has been undertaken on this
aspect in recent years. Akinnifesi
et al.
(Chapter 8) synthesizes what has been
done in southern Africa (Kadzere
et al.
, 2001, 2006a, b, c). Individual
monographs on specific species have also described some of the work done,
e.g. for
S. birrea
(Hall
et al.
, 2002). More research is needed in this area for
most indigenous fruit trees.
●
Extinction threats
. IFTs are becoming increasingly threatened by
deforestation, and wild collection is reducing the potential for regeneration.
Key policy interventions are required to sustain the contributions of
valuable IFTs in the tropics. This will involve increasing investment efforts
towards IFT domestication, and increasing their profile through awareness-
creation and policy debates.
●
Long-term investment
. At an institutional level, the lack of continuity may
limit success in tree domestication and new tree development. This can be
seen in several examples in Latin America (Cornelius
et al.
, 2006; Chapter
6, this volume) and current funding challenges for IFT development in
Africa. There is a need for long-term investment planning, and strong
institutional and policy support, to ensure programme success.
21.7 Conclusions
The contribution that indigenous fruit trees make to many farmers' livelihoods
is seldom acknowledged in national and international level poverty-reduction
strategies and policy debates, and the collection of agricultural statistics and
investment efforts tends to be focused on a narrow range of exotic fruits. The
restricted range of exotics promoted cannot meet the requirements of the
market and local populations. Substantial foreign-exchange earnings were
recorded for a few IFTs, e.g. ber and tamarind in India, shea butter in Burkina
Faso, marula in South Africa, guarana and Brazil nut in Brazil, camu camu in
Peru, and peach palm in the Amazons.
Drawing on the various chapters of this topic and the wider literature, this
final chapter provides evidence for the contribution of indigenous fruit trees to
income generation, markets and livelihoods in the tropics. This chapter has
highlighted key findings useful for tree domesticators working with farmers,
marketers and consumers to develop novel tree crops from these 'hidden
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