The role of indigenous fruit trees (IFTs) in addressing malnutrition in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) was examined, and farmers were trained in IFT domestication as a means to encourage the cultivation of IFTs.

The Problem

Deficiency of iron and vitamin A is prevalent in most parts of SSA. Low intake of vitamin A is considered to be Africa’s third greatest public health problem after HIV/AIDS and malaria. Vitamin C from fruits is essential for absorbing iron, an important mineral that is present in significant quantities in green leafy vegetables. Fruit consumption in sub-Saharan Africa, however, with a daily average of only 36 g per person in Eastern Africa and about 90 g in Western Africa – is far below the recommended daily amount of 200 g per person. In SSA, about 30 per cent of inhabitants, most of them women and children, suffer from malnutrition. Fruits offer not only easily available energy, but also micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals necessary to sustain and support human growth and activity. There are, however, a variety of factors that constrain fruit consumption and production in Africa such as:

• Lack of consumer awareness regarding the health benefits of regular fruit consumption.
• Change of consumer preferences and loss of the traditional nutrition systems based on local agricultural biodiversity, which leads to erosion of both the plant genetic resources and the related traditional knowledge.
• Degradation of natural vegetation used for collecting indigenous fruits in the past.
• Lack of sufficient tree domestication techniques and their dissemination, especially of vegetative tree propagation methods.
• Lack of fruit processing facilities, which leads to high post-harvest losses.
• Poorly organized fruit marketing pathways along the value chain.

The Project

A case study was performed by Simitu et al. (2009) in the drylands of Mwingi District, Eastern Kenya, where 104 households were randomly selected to collect data on IFT abundance on farms and fruit consumption data of adults and children. All fruit tree species occurring on the farm of the respondent were identified and the individual trees were counted. A combination of a semi-structured questionnaire and visual aids were used to collect detailed and reliable data on fruit consumption over a period of one year. A food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was developed with the names of all available fruit species in order to determine which species were consumed during what periods of the year, when the species could be harvested, and how often the respondents consumed the respective fruit during that time. Typical household measures and photos of standard portions were used to help respondents estimate the usual amount of fruits consumed per meal and to calculate mean consumption per day for each of the species. 

• A large proportion of species were found only on one or two of the surveyed farms.
• Adults view many indigenous fruits as food for children and consume only fruits from certain, higher valued species (e.g. baobab).
• So far, both government extension services and NGOs in Kenya neglect the value of indigenous fruits for improved livelihoods of rural communities and, instead, focus on the promotion of exotic fruits, such as mango and passion fruit.
• There exists an urgent need to create awareness among rural communities about the value of fruit consumption for improved nutrition and health.
• While many IFT species are available, they are not used efficiently.