"Mobilization and capacity-building for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises
involved in the non-wood forest products value chains in Central Africa"
This policy brief presents a baseline study of the “Dacryodes edulis” value chain in the Bas Congo and Kinshasa provinces of the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC), carried out by Abdon Awono, Diomide manirakiza and Henri Owona of CIFOR. This study highlights the importance of
this product in terms of food, marketing and as a source of income to the people. It identifies the advantages and constraints of this value chain.
Policy Brief No. 6 (April 2010)
Recommendations
1. Improve on knowledge of African plum with respect to
their morphological, physicochemical and organoleptic
characteristics as well as packaging methods;
2. Organize producers in order to improve on direct
income;
3. Integrate national statistics on the commercialization
of non-wood forest products in general and of African
plum in particular in order to assess their real impact on
the national economy;
4. Facilitate trade in African plum among Central African
countries and ensure its availability in the market at all
times;
5. Encourage participatory domestication in order to
ease access to quality seeds that guarantee high quality
products and are adapted to market demands.
1. Introduction
Non-wood forest products are a primary source of food to
the community living close to and/or in the forest
landscapes of the DRC. This applies to game, caterpillar,
snail, mushroom, leaves, tree barks and varieties of fruitsone of which is the African plum (Dacryodes edulis). Some
of these products are used for treatment (pharmacopoeia)
in rural areas and even in towns. They are equally a nonnegligible source of income.
Confronted by the galloping population increase in the
DRC, non-wood forest products are arousing more and
more interest in contributing to food security and improving
living conditions. It’s a pity though, that the real
opportunity to alleviate poverty and ensure food security
that these products offer are neither known by the natives,
nor officially taken into consideration by policy makers.
Within the range of these products, the African plum,
among others is gaining considerable importance. There
is increased production and generalised of consumption in
urban centres and major towns of the country especially in
Kinshasa and in the Bas Congo where it is produced.
2. Production of African plum
African plum is grown either through natural or
artificial silviculture; the plant sprouts naturally in the
forest and could be assisted by man. On the other
hand, it could be planted in orchards or through
mixed farming like in cocoa agro-forests. Hence,
42.2% of the stems are found in domestic gardens,
22.4% in secondary forests, while 35.4% are found
in fallowing land and in farms.
The harvesting of African plum can be done
artificially or naturally. The artificial means is mostly
practised by the producers. The fruits are harvested
by climbing the trees, or mechanically using a hooklike object. Natural harvesting occurs when the fruits
drop as they mature. The natural method is used for
very tall trees and for personal consumption
especially.
Even though African plum exists in other provinces
of the DRC, the Bas Congo is the province with the
highest production. During the 2007/2008 season,
the production of 116 persons interviewed in 23
villages was valued at 197,500kg. Some villages
like Luanza, Konde Divungu and Boko Kinfulama
distinguished themselves with production estimated
at 9,975, 5,750 and 3,717 kg respectively. On the
other hand, villages with low production are Kibangu
and Boko Disu with an average of 217kg and 344kg
respectively. Generally, it should be noted that 58%
of African plum produced is for commercial
purposes, 28% for personal consumption, 10% as
gifts and 4% as losses.
3. The African plum trade and the income it
generates
The African plum trade network involves producers,
wholesalers, retailers and consumers. Its marketing
diagram is in line with the classical pattern of the
functioning of the marketing of seasonal products.
There is no equity in the distribution of profits
generated from the sale of African plum in the DRC.
One observes that while the average selling price
The GCP/RAF/408/EC project “Mobilizing and building the capacities of small and medium-sized Enterprises involved in the
non-wood forest product value chains in Central Africa” funded by the European Union has as its goal to increase the
income of small and medium sized enterprises involved in the non-wood forest product value chains and to manage forest
resources in a sustainable manner for present and future generations.
This briefing note has been drafted by the FAO and CIFOR with the collaboration of the Ministry of Environment, Nature
Conservation, Water and Forest and of the Ministry of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in the DRC.
increases at about 33.5% for retailers, that of producers
increases by about 13% only. Generally, the product is
sold by the producers individually. Generally, trading in
groups is rare and represents only 4% of
commercialization initiative.
With regard to the global sources of household income in
the area surveyed, agriculture takes the lead (54.5%),
followed by non-wood forest products (21.9%), animal
rearing ( 8.7%), petty trade (6.4%), salaried jobs (1.7%),
small jobs (1.5%), bee farming (1.2%) and others (2.6%).
In Kinshasa, African plum accounts for more than half
the income generated from the sale of non-wood forest
products in households (figure 1). Besides, of all the
people interviewed, 92% generate significant income
from African plum.
4 Consumption and other uses of African plum
African plum is principally used for feeding (95.53%) and
health (4.47%). Used as food, the fruit is consumed after it
has been cooked in warm water or a frying pan or roasted. It
could be consumed separately as a dessert or as an
accompaniment to other food stuff. The fruits of Dacryodes
edulis have a high nutritive value. A fruit contains an
average of 50% lipids, 10% protein, 27% fiber and 10 % of
sugar on dry matter. Some varieties can contain as much as
70% in oil content (Silou, 1992). Moreover, African plum is
potentially useful in the production of cosmetic and
pharmaceutical products. The flowers equally make it a
melliferous species. The income from African plum accounts
for 31.4% of all NWFPs, followed by mushrooms (18.2%),
caterpillars (13.0%) and “fumbwa” (11.4%). At the level of
therapeutics, the leaves, bark and roots of the African plum
tree are used to treat tooth ache, diarrhea, burns, chronic
weight loss, shingles, hiccup, dysentery and the regulation
of excess milk in breast feeding women.
Urban consumers get their supplies principally from
markets, through gifts from owners of African plum trees in
villages when they pass by and from their own orchards.
They prefer the large fresh fruits that are black in colour, a
technical manner of determining the taste.
5. Constraints and opportunities of the African plum
trade
Figure : Comparison of the<weight> of income from
African plum in relation to non-wood forest products in
Kinshasa
During the 2007/2008 season, the general average
income in the villages under survey was about FC
170,437 for the producing households. The total value of
African plum in the markets of Kinshasa was estimated
at FC 1,333,296,228 and FC 566,708,712 in the markets
of Bas Congo. The average income of the wholesalers is
higher than that of the retailers in the two provinces.
The selling price of a kg of African plum fluctuates a
great deal from the beginning to the end of the season
due to the fluctuations in its availability from one village
to the other and from the producer to the retailer. Sixtyseven percent of African plum producers sell their
produce on the spot and 37% do so out of the production
area, with distances covered varying from one village to
the other. This can be attributed either to the respect of
job distribution or to the poor state of road infrastructure.
After its commercialization, 31.8% of income generated
from African plum is spent on feeding, 25.9% on
education, 13.7% on health and 28.7% on other
household needs.
No processing initiative was noticed in the production
area. Consequently, no derived product could be found
in the market.
The greatest obstacle to the fluid circulation of this
product is the difficulty of preserving the fruits. This
difficulty alone represents 89% of all the problems
identified at this level. The packaging of this product by
producers and retailers is more geared towards aerating
the fruits. The cost of accessing the markets is also one
of the problems hindering the development efforts of the
non-wood forest products value chains. This is further
aggravated by corrupt practices and police harassment.
The most important direct charges are formal and
informal taxes (30%) and transportation (35%).
The development of the African plum value chain has
many opportunities, the most important of which seems
to be the existence of big markets that include even
people in places far away from the place of production.
Handling may be another important strategy to
complement the supply.
6. Conclusion
The contribution of African plum to the improvement of
the living conditions of the local population in the DRC is
unquestionable at the levels of food security, health and
poverty alleviation.
Considering the expanse of the production area in
Central Africa, this product offers interesting prospects
for mobilization and capacity-building for Small and
Medium-Sized Enterprises involved in the non-wood
forest products value chains.
Contact :
Table : Quantity, prices and income from safou in
relation to the type of traders in the markets of Kinshasa
and Bas Congo (2007 season)
Ousseynou Ndoye : Regional
Coordinator in Cameroon
Coordinator
and
National
P.O. Box 281, Yaounde, Cameroon
Retailer
Province
Kinshasa
Bas Congo
Ave. qty.
(kg)
Ave. inc.
(FC)
10 377
3 159
3 831 311
1 793 382
Wholesaler
Ave.
Ave. inc.
qty.
(FC)
(kg)
12 594 3 377 510
5 421
1 779 840
Tel : +237 22 20 24 72, +237 75 29 70 67, Fax : +237 22 20 48 11
Email : Ousseynou.Ndoye@fao.org / ousseynou_ndoye@yahoo.fr
Sophie Grouwels: Lead Technical Officer in Rome
FAO, Rome, Italy
Tel : +39 06 570 55299, Cell : +39 346 240 1970