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Sahelian smallholder farmers depend on many trees and shrubs, primarily indigenous species, for a range of essential products and environmental services that improve their livelihoods. Ziziphus mauritiana Lam. is one of the priority fruit trees for smallholder farms in the region. A tree domestication programme for Z. mauritiana has been initiated in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and Senegal. In this paper, we discuss the importance of Z. mauritiana for smallholder farmers; we briefly present recent studies on genetic variation and controlled pollination of Z. mauritiana; and we describe a recently launched breeding programme to improve productivity and drought adaptation in the West African Sahel. The goal of the breeding programme is to produce and propagate germplasm that combines the heavy-fruiting characteristics of Asian germplasm with the pest and drought tolerance of local germplasm.

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