Trade in Palm Products in North-Western South America

Abstract

More than 200 scientific publications and Internet sources dealing with trade in palm products in north-western South America are reviewed. We focus on value chains, trade volumes, prices,

SE Asian Palms for Agroforestry and Home Gardens

“…At the end we will make a number of recommendations, which elaborate on the findings of a recently completed EU 7th Framework project (EU-PALMS 2009-2013) on sustainable harvesting of palms in tropical South America (results published in [5,[10][11][12]). Table 1 summarizes some of the most important features that characterize palms (family Arecaceae) as a plant group and how these affect their agricultural potential.…”

“…Colonist smallholders as well as indigenous peoples across the tropics depend heavily on palms for food and construction material [4,5,9,10]. Most palm products are inadequately captured, or not captured at all in trade statistics at the local and regional economic levels [11]. Hence there is very little attention on their potential in home-gardens and agroforestry cultivation systems.…”

“…Many palm species are underexploited and the products they deliver are often extracted in a way that is both inefficient and unsustainable [12]. Detailed studies conducted in north-western South America have shown that resource depletion due to lack of proper management has led to rising prices on local and regional markets [11]. Furthermore, sustainability and marketing potential of palm products are negatively affected by the low income obtained by primary producers, which often represents no more than 0.01%-3% of the retail value [11].…”

“…Detailed studies conducted in north-western South America have shown that resource depletion due to lack of proper management has led to rising prices on local and regional markets [11]. Furthermore, sustainability and marketing potential of palm products are negatively affected by the low income obtained by primary producers, which often represents no more than 0.01%-3% of the retail value [11]. Poor governance, insecurity of land tenure and unequal sharing of profits endanger a sustainable long-term development of these valuable resources [13].…”

Influence of Habitat on the Reproductive Ecology of the Amazonian Palm, Mauritia flexuosa, in Roraima, Brazil

“…The fruit comprises an important part of the Amazonian diet (Henderson, 1995) and has pharmaceutical and industrial applications given its unmatched levels of beta-carotene (Santos, 2005;Silva et al 2009;Zanatta et al, 2010). High demand for the fruits in the western Amazon has led to overharvesting, including the felling of female trees (Delgado et al, 2007;Brokamp et al, 2011). Despite this palm's broad importance and the threat of overharvesting, little is known about fruit yields and habitat heterogeneity.…”