Managing the Miombo Woodlands of Southern Africa - PROFOR

growing on scarce, clay-rich soils (termitaria and riverine areas). 9 However, two major fruit producing
species occur naturally in large stands in miombo, namely Uapaca kirkiana and Schinziophyton
rautanenii, both of which have signifi cant economic importance. Additional plant foods comprise
tubers and bulbs from woodland (Cucurbitaceae, Asclepiadeceae). The roots of Boscia salicifolia,
found growing on termite mounds within miombo woodlands, are widely eaten during hunger
periods in Central Mozambique (FAO 2005). Edible leafy vegetables are found growing as “weeds”
on land cleared for farming (particularly Amaranthaceae, Capparaceae, and Tiliaceae). These are
more abundant on densely settled sites with eutrophic soils.
Another characteristic of miombo ecology, with signifi cant implications for human well-being, is that
the Caesalpinoid tree species, as well as Uapaca kirkiana, support common and extensive fungal
associations with their roots 10 (Frost 1996; Lowore and Boa 2001). This evolutionary association has
resulted in a remarkable diversity of associated macrofungi, many of which are edible. In Malawi,
for example, 362 species of macrofungi are recorded, 14 percent of which are edible (Morris
1994). (In contrast, temperate forests typically have perhaps a quarter of this diversity.) Signifi cant
differences between vegetation types within the miombo region, and their impact on the growth of
mushrooms, are also important. 11
Particularly because of its pattern of seasonal fl owering and the heavy prevalence of blossoms
among the dominant miombo species—Brachystegia, Julbernardia and Isoberlinia—beekeeping is
an extremely common form of miombo land-use. Beekeeping has highly signifi cant cultural, social,
and economic dimensions throughout the region.
Miombo woodlands also play a critical role in livestock management throughout the region. During
wetter times of the year, open grassy patches within the miombo are sometimes heavily used for
grazing, but miombo itself becomes quite important as these grass patches are burnt over or are
fully grazed late in the season. Miombo is seasonal and loses much of its leaf cover during the
winter, dry season. In the early spring, the so-called late dry season fl ush sees the miombo coming
back to life, with vast swathes of the woodland covered in bright red, orange, and yellow foliage. It
is during this time of year, when seasonal grazing resources are otherwise highly constrained, that
miombo comes into its own as a critical source of fodder for livestock.
The relationship between livestock production, grass regeneration, crop production and the
tendency for people to light fi res in miombo woodlands is highly synergistic. There is a widely
held perception among rural cattle owners in miombo regions, confi rmed by range science, that
the burning of grasslands encourages the regeneration of favored grass species. Burning also plays
a critical role in rotational chitemene systems of crop production, sterilizing the soil and releasing
nutrients for farming (though this rotational system is not dependent on the extensive rangeland
burns necessary for good grass regeneration). The effects of burning on structure and morphology
of miombo woodlands depend on both intensity and timing. Some miombo species—evergreens
9 Berchemia, Carissa, Ficus, Garcinia, Diospyros, Pappea, Syzygium, Parinari.
10 Ectomycorrhizae.
11 For example, macrofungi genera, a major source of edible species in miombo and Uapaca woodlands, are
conspicuously lacking in Baikiaea dry forest (Piearce and Chitempa 1984).
Chapter 2. CONTEXT: EMERGING OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEOPLE LIVING IN MIOMBO REGIONS
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