Ethnobotanical Portraits

Backgrounds

Textures are woven with cane from various species of Korthalsia (Arecaceae), a genus that comprises slender to robust high climbing rattans. There are about 27 species of Korthalsia, distributed from Burma and Indochina to Papua New Guinea. Korthalsia is characterized by basal suckers and branching stems that create a tangle in the forest canopy. The vines produce excellent durable canes which, after careful cleaning of the stem surface, present an attractive reddish brown hue. In Sabah, East Malaysia – where the cane shown here was harvested – most species of Korthalsia are highly sought after for use in weaving and basket making. In Central and East Kalimantan, rattans in the genus Calamus have been cultivated in agroforestry systems for over one hundred years. The Regional Office for Asia, the Pacific and Oceania of the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI-APO) promotes conservation and use of bamboo and rattan in Asian countries. In 1996, IPGRI organized two training courses on rattan in Sabah and Sarawak, Malaysia in collaboration with INBAR, the International Network on Bamboo and Rattan, which is based in Beijing, China.

Contact: Dr. A.N. Rao, Regional Office for Asia, The Pacific and Oceania, International Plant Genetic Resources Institute, P.O. Box 236, UPM Post Office, Serdang 43400, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia; Tel. +60.3.9423891, Fax +60.3.9487655, E-mail n.rao@cgnet.com, Website http://www.cgiar.org/ipgri.

Leaves are harvested from Gnetum africanum Welw. and G. buccholzianum Engl. (Gnetaceae), central and west African tropical forest vines. The perennial foliage of these gymnosperms – known as koko in the Congo, eru in Cameroon and afang or okazi in Nigeria – is consumed in large quantities, contributing up to 30% of the daily intake of protein in some areas of Africa. Women gather the gnetum leaves and cut them into thin slices. These can be eaten raw, but are usually served as a side dish eaten with fufu, a starchy staple made of cassava or maize. Once a localized food, gnetum consumption is now widespread. It is available as a local specialty in restaurants and is exported, especially to Belgium, France and the United States of America. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon and southeastern Nigeria, where average daily consumption rates are high, wild populations of the species are threatened, especially as many plants are uprooted to harvest the leaves. In addition, leaf production rates are relatively low, necessitating more intensive production. Researchers at the Limbe Botanical Garden in Cameroon, through its ‘Conservation through Cultivation’ program, have begun an experimental project to domesticate and improve varieties of gnetum for use in agroforestry systems. This builds on pioneering work by Patrick Shiembo, who first discovered how to propagate the vine from stem cuttings.

Contact: Mr. Joseph Nkefor, Limbe Botanic Garden, P.O. Box 437, Limbe, Cameroon; Tel./Fax +237.431876, 431883 or 431885 Ext. 381, E-mail mcplbg@iccnet.cm.

Seeds are from Argania spinosa (L.) Skeels, one of the few African species of Sapotaceae that grow north of the Sahara Desert. The tree is found from sea level up to 1500 m in Morocco, where it is known as the argan tree. An arid zone plant, it can grow to a height of eight to ten meters, with a diameter of 30 cm to one meter. A richly flavored, nutty oil is extracted from the fruit. In 1878, Joseph Hooker and John Ball described the Argan tree “as the most interesting vegetable product of Marocco [sic], being confined to that empire and to a very circumscribed area in it, belonging to an almost exclusively tropical family, yielding a most important article of diet to the inhabitants, and a wood that for hardness and durability rivals any hitherto described”. Today argan oil is used primarily in cooking and cosmetics. The wood is used for timber and charcoal, and the large leafy crown of the tree provides livestock with fodder, and soils with protective shade, making the argan a valuable multipurpose tree for agroforestry systems. The Union des Coopératives des Femmes pour la production et la commercialisation de l’huile d’Argane et des produits agricoles (UCFA) produces pure traditional argan oil and other products under the trade name ‘Tissaliwine’. Comprising four cooperatives with over 150 woman, the Union was created with support from GTZ. The participating villages are within the Arganerie Biosphere Reserve, officially recognized by the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere program in 1999.

Contact: Mr. Frank K. Hayer, Argan Conservation and Development Project, B.P 334, 80000 Agadir, Morocco;
Tel. +212.8.333880, Fax +212.8.332973,
E-mail gtz-ARGA@mtds.net.ma.

 

Left: Baskets with roasted seeds and dried fruits of argan. Above: Amlou (ground almonds, honey and argan oil) and argan oil prepared by the ‘Tissaliwine’ cooperative.

Profiles

Amadou Ibra Niang

Amadou Ibra Niang, who is from Senegal, has worked at the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) since 1989. As Principal Forester, he is responsible for planning and conducting participatory agroforestry research in Maseno, western Kenya, and for facilitating the wider dissemination of promising agroforestry innovations through development partners. He is also responsible for promoting links between ICRAF and other research institutions, as part of the activities of the Agroforestry Research Networks for

Africa (AFRENA) in eastern and central Africa. Dr. Niang strives to link participatory on-farm testing and development methods to encourage farmers and community groups to spread the word about sustainable farming systems. He and his team have been highly successful in Maseno, where more than 6000 farmers are already using agroforestry innovations for the restoration of soil fertility developed by ICRAF and its national partners.

Contact: Dr. Amadou Ibra Niang, P.O. Box 25199, Otonglo, Kisumu, Kenya; Tel. +254.2.521450, Fax +254.2.521001,
E-mail icraf-maseno@x1.cgiar.org.

Joseph Poteh Nkefor

Joseph Poteh Nkefor was born in Cameroon in 1964. Over the last five years, he has worked on the domestication of forest species that yield non-timber forest products, including indigenous vegetables, medicinal plants and rattans. As part of this research he is conducting trials at the Limbe Botanic Garden (LBC) on the propagation, establishment and harvesting of Gnetum. In collaboration with the African Rattan Research Program and the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC), he is carrying out germination trials of African rattan species, leading to the establishment of the first African experimental rattan plantation where growth rates and morphological changes are monitored.

He has also carried out research on seed germination and storage of Prunus africana, a commercialized medicinal plant.

Drawing upon his skill in collecting living plants and herbarium specimens, and his ethnobotanical knowledge, he has helped to develop the Limbe Botanical Garden medicinal plant beds. Experienced in supervising the practical work of university and professional students in subjects related to botany and horticulture, he has supervised the work of 12 students, including some at the M.Sc. level. His contacts are given on page 36 of this Handbook, under the article on Gnetum.

What is this.....?

Did you recognize the plant scattered through these pages?

It is Ricinodendron heudelotii (Baillon) Pax (Euphorbiaceae), a tree of tropical central Africa that has a light and soft timber used for drums and similar artefacts. The trees are planted in agroforestry systems primarily because they yield kernels used as a food flavoring and oil source. They are exported from Cameroon to neighboring countries in considerable quantities. Roger Leakey reports that the species came out third in ICRAF’s farmer-oriented priority setting exercise for domestication of trees in humid west Africa.

The illustration and part of the botanical information are from Dale, I.R. and P.J. Greenway. 1961. Kenya Trees and Shrubs. London, Robert MacLehose and Glasgow, University Press. The second authoritative book of Kenyan trees (following the 1936 reference text The Trees and Shrubs of Kenya Colony), it contains basic information on the uses and preferred environments of many species. A revision of the book in 1994 by Henk Beentje, entitled Kenya Trees, Shrubs and Lianas, increased the number of species covered from 1000 to 1800. It was published by National Museums of Kenya and includes reproduction of the illustrations in the Dale and Greenway edition.

Contact: Dr. Beatrice Khayota, Acting Botanist-in-charge, East African Herbarium, National Museums of Kenya, P.O. Box 40658, Nairobi, Kenya;
Tel. +254.2.743513 or 742161, Fax +254.2.741424,
E-mail plants@africaonline.co.ke or nmk@africaonline.co.ke,
Website http://www.museums.or.ke/.