Bush Mango (Irvingia spp.) As an Important Alternative Livelihood Source for the Indigenes of the Korup National Park Communities, South West Cameroon

Abstract

Protected resources continue to suffer illegal exploitation due to inadequate alternative livelihood options to the local populations. This study evaluated bush mango current situation in Korup National Park Communities (KNPCs). Five villages were selected based on high productivity. Focused group discussion was done in each village to identify stakeholders in the bush mango sector. Ninety-four household questionnaires administered to collectors. All collectors exploited rainy season bush mango; 36 (38%) collectors collected dry season bush mango in farms, 86% had cultivated dry season bush mango and 54% rainy season bush mango. Collectors, village traditional councils (VTCs), Cooperative and ordinary buyers constituted primary stakeholder. Households kernel's quantities produced varied (34-42 contents) and sold at US $ 42.4/content. KNPCs produced 1,658,880 kg kernels and sold for $ 3,907,584 / harvest season. Salient constraints were: long distances trekked to sites, ant bites, processing accidents, inadequate drying/storage facilities, poor roads and inadequate market information. Improved seedlings with good characteristics (rapid growth rate, large kernels sizes; self-cracking seed shells); fruit/ seed cracking machine; drying ovens; improved roads; and telecommunication networks for market intelligent communication were solicited. Both bush mangoes enhanced livelihoods in KNP and its cultivation will increase sustainable livelihoods source and reduce pressures on protected resources.

The Future of Food: Domestication and Commercialization of Indigenous Food Crops in Africa over the Third Decade (2012–2021)

“…As a result, the concept of privately owned tree crops producing Agroforestry Tree Products (AFTPs) has been proposed to distinguish them from common-property forest resources [207]. This is important, as these tree products are the backbone of most rural economies and contribute to the enhancement of the socio-economic welfare of forestdependent communities [180,187,189,191,[208][209][210][211][212][213][214][215][216][217][218][219][220][221][222][223][224]. Furthermore, studies have demonstrated that the sustainable exploitation, commercialization and management of NTFPs/AFTPs could contribute immensely to the attainment of important Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) such as SDG 2 (zero hunger), SDG 3 (good health and wellbeing), SDG 13 (climate action) and SDG 15 (life on land) [21,[225][226][227].…”

“…Essougong et al [32] reported that, on average, Rural Resource Centres organized 40 training sessions annually, reaching 1444 farmers in Cameroon. It was observed that a single Relay Organization was supporting on average 100-240 farmers to acquire essential domestication skills, such as the vegetative propagation techniques, as well as tree planting, management and harvesting techniques [223]. To enhance organisational and financial sustainability of this extension and capacity building approach, other activities include social networking between Centres as well as their private and institutional clients, development partners, local research teams and municipalities [34].…”