From fossils to food: Trade in Gnetum

species in the Congo Basin

Introduction

Fossils date Gnetales back to 250 million years (Gou 2009, Wang 2004), making it

highly likely that they were eaten by dinosaurs. Today, two species of the Gnetales

genera Gnetum africanum and Gnetum bucholzianum, are the basis of a lucrative

multi-million dollar trade from the tropical humid forests of Central Africa. Known

locally as afang, eru, koko, okok and fumbwa, the leaves are harvested and sold

as a vegetable. They provide an important source of protein and nutrients as part

of popular dishes in Gabon, Cameroon, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of

Congo and are used in traditional medicine. They are also marketed internationally

to the African diaspora in Europe. In a world now dominated by a diversity of

angiosperms in tropical forests, it is remarkable that Gnetum species have even

survived; let alone that these broad pinnate-veined leaves are the focus of a much

larger non-timber forest product (NTFP) trade most angiosperms from the Congo

Basin forests.Market chain studies analyzing the environmental, social and economic values in three

countries in the heart of the Congo Basin where trade is intense: Cameroon, Nigeria

and the Democratic Republic of Congo, show the importance of Gnetum species in

generating income both for rural and urban populations but question the species’

continued survival and long term sustainability of the current trade. Will it, as the

dinosaurs, become extinct?

.

Verina Ingram Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) & University of Amsterdam

For further information, please contact v.ingram@cgiar.org

Conclusion

Main challenges and lessons for the market value chains are:

A declining resource base of a plant with a naturally low abundance, particularly

of the most favored species in Cameroon, Gnetum buchholzianum, combined with

largely unsustainable harvest practices and low levels of domestication;

Lack of political will to combat or change the culture of corruption – especially in

the permitting, transport and trade of NTFPs;

The regulatory and policy framework focus on timber and agroforestry cash

crops undervalues NTFPs and creates a highly disenabling environment for

sustainable exploitation and enterprises.

Governance issues are critical in this value chain: The combination of absent

regulatory and weakening customary controls on access and harvest techniques

results in over-exploitation and long term degradation of the resource.

The large volume and high value, well organized trade, significant consumer

demand, and high levels of corruption (particularly in permitting and transport),

combine together with the governance issues and low level of domestication, to

make this livelihood enhancing chain potentially short lived .

Secure and increased income however is possible through Gnetum

domestication – but appears successful only given intensive support and training at

village level, and realization of the long term threat, combined with access to

markets.

Processing and drying adds value and increases incomes – particularly or

harvesters - but requires equipment, expertise and entrepreneurial skills often

lacking without external intervention at the harvester or village level.

Small enterprises in major consumer markets and increasing sales to Europe

also indicate processing is increasingly profitable and feasible way to add value

and prolong shelf life of this perishable product.

AcknowledgementsFieldwork and preliminary reports and analysis conducted by Louis Ndumbe, Abdon Awono and

Diomède Manirakiza and Henri Owono. The study was financed by CIFOR and the European

Commission funded GCP/RAF/408/EC Project «Mobilisation et Renforcement des Capacités des

Petites et Moyennes Entreprises Impliquées dans les Filières Des Produits Forestiers Non Ligneux En

Afrique Centrale». Thanks to Ousseynou Ndoye, Julius Tieguhong and Mirjam Ros-Tonen for

comments, Cédric Vermeulen, Nouhou Ndam and Tony Cunningham their collaboration in developing

the ideas behind the paper.

ReferencesAwono, A., D. L. Ngono, O. Ndoye, J. Tieguhong, A. Eyebe and M. T. Mahop (2002). Etude sur la Commercialisation de Quatre Produits ForestiersNon-Ligneux dans la Zone Forestiere du Cameroun: Gnetum spp., Ricinodendron heudelotii, Irvingia spp., Prunus africana. FAO. Yaounde, FAO: 96.Bell, J. (2004). Contribution a la Valorisation du Gnetum africanum et du Gnetum buchholzianum Au Cameroun. Department of Plant Biology.Yaounde, University of Yaounde I. Licencié en Biologie des Organismes Végétaux: 45.Fondoun, J. M. and T. T. Manga (2000). "Farmers indigenous practices for conserving Garcinia kola and Gnetum africanum in southernCameroon." Agroforestry Systems 48: 289–302.Guo, S.-X., J.-G. Sha, L.-Z. Bian and Y.-L. Qiu (2009) "Male spike strobiles with Gnetum affinity from the Early Cretaceous in western Liaoning,Northeast China." Journal of Systematics and Evolution 47 (2): 93–102 (2009) doi: 10.1111/j.1759-6831.2009.00007.x Volume, 10 DOI:10.1111/j.1759-6831.2009.00007.xM'ossamy, D. A. (2002). Commercialisation des amandes de mangues sauvages (Irvingia gabonensis) et les feuilles de gnetum (Gnetum africanum) sur les marches de Libreville et ses environs (Gabon). FASA, Université Dschang FASA, 62p.Mathot, L. 2002. Valorisation des produits forestiers non-ligneux en milieux villageois, dans le cadre d’un aménagement durable des concessions forestières de la CEB au Gabon. Master’s thesis, Agricultural University of Gembloux, 77p. Mahot, L., J.-L. Doucet and C. Vermeulen (2010). Harvest of Gnetum africanum (Welw.) by Gabonese shifting cultivators: Its use, availability and ecological sustainability: unpublished 17.Shiembo, P. N. (1994). Domestication of multipurpose tropical plants, with particular reference to Irvingia gabonensis Baill., Ricinodendron heudelotii Baill.) Pierre et Pax and Gnetum africanum Welw. . Institute of Ecology and Resources Management Edinburgh, University of Edinburgh Doctor of Philosophy: 324.Wang, Z.-Q. (2004). "A new Permian gnetalean cone as fossil evidence for supporting current molecular phylogeny." Annals of Botany 94(2): 281-288.

Harvest Transport Whole-sale Export Retail Restaurant Consumption

Gnetum Chains in Cameroon, DRC, Gabon & Nigeria

0.52 0.57 0.85 1.02 1.13 Cameroon3.39 Nigeria

0.07 0.11 7.81 0.14 0.59 DRC1.44 2.27 3.40 Gabon

average price in US$/kg US$ for a plate

ResultsAn estimated 200 tons from Mbandaka, Equateur and Bandundu provinces in DRC and

4,180 tons from the Southwest, Littoral and Centre regions of Cameroon are harvested

annually. Between 50 and 2000 tons are exported to Europe annually. This involves at

least 1885 and 1744 people directly respectively in Cameroon and DRC. This is a very

valuable trade, with the markets in the regions studied in Cameroon worth 13.8 million

US$ and in DRC 1.2 US$ annually. The commerce contributes up to 22% (DRC) and 58%

(Cameroon) to harvester’s annual incomes, 75% to retailer’s and 58% of exporter’s

incomes. Mainly women (79%) are involved in all stages of the chain in Cameroon,

whereas in contrast 50 and 60% of wholesalers and retailers in DRC are male. Cultural

differences concerning who collects and trades forest products and the focus on more

valuable cash crops such as cocoa and coffee in Cameroon explain the gender

difference. Despite the presence of Gnetum for millennia in these forests, it appears that

in Gabon, DRC and Cameroon the species is in decline. This is linked to three factors.

1. Unsustainable harvesting techniques: in the 3 countries, at least 50% of harvesters

on average use unsustainable techniques; 97% had observed that Gnetum has

diminished in the forest around their village, with 68% attributing this reduction to forest

clearance for farmlands, plantations (25%) and logging (7%). This matches the

experiences in the Centre, East and Littoral regions (Awono, 2002; Bell 2004; Fondoun,

2000) and in Gabon (Mahot, 2002, Mahot et al., 2010), indicating that the resource is

becoming scarcer as the rate of harvesting is above the natural regeneration rate. In all

countries the resource is seen as open access with no, or very few, traditional or legal

controls on harvest. Even domesticated Gnetum is often stolen: the common perception

is that this is a forest and not a farmed resource.

2. High demand; In the 3 countries between 78 and 83% of the quantity harvested is

sold. The actors in the chain closest to consumers, supplying markets in Kinshasa, Oron,

Calabar, Ikang and Ikom and Libreville and Europe, are highly and efficiently organized –

creating a strong incentive to harvest all available resources. Harvest losses of between 4

to 26% result from poor storage, long transport times and delays due to negotiating bribes

with officials along transport routes, costing up to 14% of a wholesale’s costs. Such

losses exacerbate over-exploitation, compensating for losses to satisfy demand.

3. Low domestication: Despite its profitability and demonstration trials in Cameroon for

over 15 years (Shiembo, Newton et al., 1996), there is a very low level of adoption: in

Cameroon 16% of harvesters in the Southwest have started to farm but less than 5% of

the quantity marketed in Cameroon is from farmed sources, and none in DRC or Gabon.

MethodsIn 2008 and 2009, market chains in

Cameroon, Nigeria and DRC were

identified. 755 structured interviews were

conducted in 48 villages in major

production areas (selected based on a

situational analysis and rapid

assessment) and in 21 major markets,

with harvesters, retailers, exporters,

importers and intermediaries (25% of

actors); restaurant operators and

consumers. Analysis using SPSS and

Excel was complemented with

secondary data for Gabon, market

observation and interviews with

organisations domesticating Gnetum.

CAMEROON

DRC

GABON

NIGERIA

Major production zones and trade flows

Mahot et al. 2010 M'ossamy 2002