The European Commission and LEI have entered into an agreement to strengthen the potential of underutilized fruit trees in the semi-arid agro forestry parklands in the lowlands of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger to reduce pressure on the parklands and to increase food security and farmers' income. With a total budget of 2 million euros for 4 years (2006-2009), this project is a joint effort with the Danish Centre for Forest Landscape and Planning (leading partner), University of Wales, Bangor (United Kingdom) and six leading African research institutes in the target countries.
Rural people in the Sahel are among the poorest in the world, depending heavily on natural resources for food and income. Trees play an important role in local livelihoods. They provide food and medicines, fodder, fibre and wood for construction and fuel. Trees are also important components of strategies for sustaining ecological benefits, in particular for soil and water conservation. The traditional agro-forestry system has sustained the people in the Sahel for centuries. But the system and the biodiversity it contains is threatened under the increased pressure for tree and land resources. Declining soil fertility is a major limitation for agricultural production and economic growth in the area.
The LEI contribution to the SAFRUIT project will generate knowledge on the potential of fruit tree products for local and national economies, on institutional and legal aspects of parkland management and the use of fruit trees, on the current and future demand, structure and performance of fruit tree product markets, and will develop a set of best marketing practice guidelines. Three pilot areas will be used to demonstrate the utility of this approach across West Africa.
SAFRUIT is funded within the 6th Framework Program, Specific Targeted Research Project (STREP) for Developing Countries.