Feature: Wild fruits seen as hidden treasures for Kenyan farmers
0 Comment(s)
Print
E-mail Xinhua, December 5, 2012
Ever thought of eating a wild fruit? This is unheard of in Kenya and to most farmers, domesticating these fruits is as well as teaching them a foreign language.
Yet, our ancestors hunters and gathering communities- appreciated the vital source of vitamins wild fruits had to their diets.
Here in Kenya, nomadic communities still savor wild fruits in our now shrinking range lands in arid and semi-arid regions.
Their vital role in supplementing human diet has seen the Nairobi based-World Agroforestry Center (formerly ICRAF) to initiate a domestication program.
Bringing superior varieties of fruit trees out of the forest and onto farmland is increasing biodiversity and generating income for resource poor farmers on thousands of smallholdings in Africa, Latin America and Asia.
"We ask local people which indigenous trees they value most and for what traits," explains Zac Tchoundjeu, co-leader of the Center's global research project on tree domestication and Agroforestry Germplasm.
Large sweet and early maturing varieties are easily identified.
In Cameroon, these wild species include bush mango (Irvingia gabonensis), African plum (Dacryodes edulis), African nut (Ricinodendron heudelotii) and bitter kola (Garcinia kola).
In Latin America's Amazon region, they include three palm species: Aguaje (Mauritia flexuosa), Majo or ungurahui (Jessenia batauba) and Peach-palm (Bactris gasipaes), and two other fruit trees: Camu-camu (Myrciaria dubia) and Cupua?u (Theobroma copuazu). In China, they include pine nut and walnut.
Research conducted at the Department of Chemistry at the University of Malawi on the nutritional value of edible fruits of indigenous wild trees found out that they are rich in protein, carbohydrates and fats.
Others had high levels of vitamins-specifically Vitamin C, with others having large amounts of minerals human bodies require.
Specifically, many had high levels of calcium, magnesium, Iron, phosphorus, potassium and sodium -- all necessary mineral requirements in the human diets.
Research elsewhere has also shown that wild strawberries-with many varieties still common in Kenya- contain high amounts of vitamin C, as well as iron. Vitamin C is an antioxidant. Strawberries are also a great source of pectin. Pectin is a soluble fiber that may lower cholesterol.
Wild strawberries have been used by some to treat anemia, joint disease, and to strengthen the circulatory system and help balance hormones. Strawberries also have several anti-inflammatory properties.
The process of domestication involves developing new varieties to be grown in monocultures, often in large plantations.
In this ICRAF project, local farmers are involved in selecting, propagating and planting new varieties as well as managing them in the environment.
"Domestication takes advantage of the huge genetic variation which exists in the wild," says Tchoundjeu. "Different trees of the same species can bear fruits that are sweet or sour, large or small."
The project aims to unleash the potential of just some of these for income generation and poverty alleviation, while ensuring genetic diversity is not lost.
Local people help scientists to identify individual trees in the wild which possess the desired traits. Germplasm- in the form of vegetative material, is then collected and used to establish superior 'accessions' at research sites and nurseries.
Scientists research how to best propagate superior trees so that large numbers of identical clones can be available as soon as possible. For superior fruit trees needed now, vegetative propagation techniques, such as rooting, grafting and marcotting, are used.
Farmers are provided with training in which techniques to use for which species, enabling them to propagate wild species in their own nurseries and on their farms.
With more indigenous trees being grown on farms, the biodiversity benefits are apparent.
With improved incomes from these fruits, pressure on natural forests is reduced as their exploitation declines.
In China , mountain farmers earn 30 percent more from selling certified organic pine nuts and walnuts and practice chemical free management that enhances both soil fauna and water quality. Endi
Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)