Baobab Monograph.pdf - Crops for the Future

PREFACE
Tropical fruit trees are important crops which supplement and improve the
quality of diets. Many of the species have multi-purpose uses, with non-food
products such as fuel, timber, fodder, medicines and industrial products.
Harvesting from these trees enables rural people to provide nutrition for a
balanced diet and generate income thus helping to alleviate poverty. The
potential of indigenous tropical fruits has not been fully realised.
Fruit trees play a vital role in crop diversification programmes and
agroforestry systems. Their inclusion in production systems reduces the risks
which are inherent in the monoculture of staple food crops. In many
countries farmer income from indigenous fruits is much higher than that
from traditional agriculture.
The purpose of this book is to assemble information on production,
processing, marketing and utilisation of baobab (Adansonia), in order to
identify research constraints and highlight the importance of the species for
nutrition and poverty alleviation. This information will be disseminated to a
wide audience in both developed and developing countries. An extension
manual is in preparation for dissemination to farmers, field workers and
policy makers.
The preparation and publication of this book has been funded by the
Department for International Development (DFID), UK, as part of a project
called "Fruits for the Future". Other partner organisations involved in the
project are the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF)
and the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI). Baobab is
the fourth in a series of 5 monographs and extension manuals.
We hope the information presented in this monograph will be a useful tool
for teachers, students, extensionists, policy makers, fruit tree growers and
traders. We also hope that this work may encourage further production,
processing and marketing of baobab particularly at the village level, and
researchers and scientists to further explore the benefits of indigenous
tropical fruit trees. For further information on the series, please visit our
website at: http://www.civil.soton.ac.uk/icuc
We would like to express our sincere thanks to Dr. M. Sidibe and Prof. J. T.
Williams who have produced the manuscript for this publication, also to Mr.
David Jackson for reviewing the manuscript, Ms. Rosemary Wise for the
illustrations, the Editorial Committee whose comments and suggestions were
extremely helpful during the editing and to all the collaborators who
provided information and current research papers for analysis and citation.
Editors, August 2002
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