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Most countries in Southern Africa are experiencing acute malnutrition, food insecurity, and low income among the rural and peri-urban population, and these culminate in deforestation and loss of biodiversity. The Miombo woodlands are known to have over 75 indigenous fruit trees (IFTs), which bear edible fruits. The fruits are rich in minerals and vitamins, sold for cash income and constitute important food sources during famines and or emergencies. This paper provides an overview of some efforts to domesticate the IFTs identified by farmers and users as priority species, as an important step to provide opportunities for resource-poor farmers to cultivate and generate income from sale of fresh and processed products, and to conserve the genetic potential of these species. The approach used involves four basic steps: 1) identification of priority species by communities and other users, 2) participatory selection of superior trees and naming them in situ, 3) propagation and cultivation of trees as fruit orchards, and 4) dissemination and adoption. Uapaca kirkiana, Parinari curatellifolia, Strychnos cocculoides and Sclerocarya birrea have been identified by farmers and stakeholders as priority species for domestication in the southern Africa region. Germplasm of Uapaca and Sclerocarya were collected, exchanged among countries, and tested in multilocational provenance trials. Over 5000 farmers in four countries are involved in on-farm testing of IFTs in the field and homesteads. A new domestication strategy is developed for the participatory domestication of Uapaca kirkiana, using the rapid clonal selection approach. A strong network of stakeholders and farmers has shown strong enthusiasm, commitment, and participation in the domestication of IFTs. Creation of an enabling environment through policy reforms and market development will be essential to achieve socioeconomic empowerment of the resource poor farmers in the region through domestication, utilization and commercialization of fruits and products. There is need for product development research, private sector involvement and strong policy support, in order to have tangible impact. BACKGROUND The world today faces urgent food and nutritional crisis, and the FAO Shah and Strong (1999) report has estimated as many as 840 million people face chronic or perpetual hunger and 19,000 of the 40,000 infants and children die of malnutrition (World Health, cited by CGIAR, 1999). A major preoccupation of the development and scientific communities in the last 50 years has been how to resolve the conflict between increasing demands for food and the degradation of the environment. The major challenge in the new century is in devising ways of integrating scientific breakthroughs with indigenous knowledge to develop tangible livelihood interventions that are applicable on farms, so as to ensure food and income security at the household levels and future prosperous small farming enterprises. Food security implies access to foods for a productive and healthy life (Shah and Strong,...

Uapaca kirkiana (Muell. Arg.), a highly valued indigenous fruit species, is being domesticated to increase its utilization in southern Africa. Vendors, who were also the fruit gatherers, that were selling U. kirkiana fruits at roadside markets in Dedza, Malawi, were interviewed on four occasions during the marketing season (October 2003-January 2004) and fruit samples were concurrently sampled from each vendor. Information was obtained on when and how the fruits had been harvested and handled. Timing of fruit harvest was based on experience, aided by indicators such as occurrence of first heavy rains, natural abscission, size and color changes. Harvesting by knocking down unripe fruits from trees was practiced throughout the season, but naturally abscised fruits were also gathered in December and January. Fruits harvested when mature but unripe required incubation in soil, plain and woven plastic bags or clay-pots. The incubation method changed and the duration of incubation decreased between October (3-4 days) and January (£2 days). Fruit samples were evaluated for damage, color and soluble solids concentration (SSC). Fruit SSC and color lightness/brightness (L*) increased from 10.1 to 16.4% (P < 0.01) and from 45.7 to 50.5 units, (P < 0.01), respectively. Higher SSC values were generally associated (R 2 =0.68, P < 0.001) with increasing pulp color intensity. Cracking, at 48%, constituted the most common form of damage in sampled fruits. On average, fruits were saleable for only 3-4 days, this being attributed to inherent fruit characteristics combined with immaturity at harvest, and damage during harvesting and storage in hot dry conditions. Lack of appropriate harvesting and handling techniques were associated with fruit darkening, drying, rotting and other postharvest problems.

In this chapter, we review the state of knowledge about germplasm delivery and the propagation and nursery management of miombo fruit trees in Africa. The chapter will be limited to examples relevant to small-farm agroforestry systems in southern Africa as opposed to highly intensive monocultural orchard production systems. We discuss the factors involved in determining the most appropriate methods of propagation for particular species, and the associated constraints and limitations in scaling up the domestication of indigenous fruit trees in southern Africa.

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