ICRAF Research Articles

Food Sovereignty and Food Rights

What is food sovereignty? What is food rights? In the recent past I have had the privilege to attend two amazing events here in Nairobi. One, the graduation of the third cohort of African Food Fellows started by scholars at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, and the other at the World Agroforestry Centre's Gigiri campus in Nairobi as African Plant Breeding Academy Fellows graduated the third cohort. My one common observation is that we have amazing programs elevating brilliant young Africans to a level where they can confidently address issues of hunger, malnutrition and poverty. African food fellows are made to provide leadership in this sector and only do so once they have been equipped with the appropriate tools and knowledge. The plant breeders are equipped with new skills in breeding that enable them to expand their performance and work. In both situations and I am sure in many more, governance and policies still come out as real concerns. In all this I see young people who are passionate about making a difference in their countries and on the continent, about impacting the ground and wanting to ensure food rights for the vulnerable amongst us. These young people will understand that food sovereignty means us valuing and protecting our food culture and food sources, and providing for the vulnerable: elderly, the disabled, and the income-less. The young people need to be passionate about food rights and hopefully will be in decision making positions where they ensure that nobody ever goes to bed hungry. They will do so because unlike now, they will understand the issues. What we need now is help for more capacity building programs.

Spatial approach for agritourism landscape planning in Winongan-Gondang Wetan, Pasuruan

Abstract The Winongan and Gondang Wetan (WGW) sub-districts in the downstream area of the Rejoso watershed in Pasuruan are characterized by predominantly agricultural land. The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) initiated a conservation program in this region called Rejoso Kita during 2016-2022. This program is designed to enhance current agricultural practices through sustainable methodologies tha effectively introduced in 12 villages. Initial outcomes indicate these villages hold potential for development into agritourism destinations, emphasizing educational, recreational, and landscape preservation components. This study aims to evaluate the area’s suitability for agritourism, focusing on sustainability through specific zoning. By applying a spatial approach with a scoring and weighting methodology, the study determined that Gading, Lebak, and Tenggilis Rejo are the villages with the highest potential for agritourism. As a result, they have been designated as primary agritourism zones. Conversely, villages with moderate to low potential will serve as supporting and buffer zones.

Cost-Benefit Implications of Conservation Agriculture with Trees in the Dry Lands of Machakos County, Kenya

The adoption of conservation agriculture and agroforestry has been cited as the solution to the degradation and low profitability challenges in the drylands. The two systems have been known to result in high profitability through the improvement of yields and lowering of crop production costs. The study was carried out as part of ongoing experimentation established in the short rains (SR) season of 2012 by the World Agroforestry Centre in an on-station site at the Agricultural Training Centre (ATC) in Machakos County, Kenya. The trials were based on a split plot arranged in a randomised complete block design with two farming systems (conventional and conservation agriculture) serving as the main blocks, 10 treatments and three replicates, summing to a total of 60 plots. In the fields, three shrub species (Calliandra calothyrsus Meissn., Cajanas cajan (Pigeon pea), and Gliricidia sepium Jacq.) were planted in three different spacing (1.5 x 1 m, 3 x 1 m, 4.5 x 1 m) for maize-legume intercrops. The costs of production were recorded consistently in each season (LR 13, SR 13, and LR14). The maize and legume yields were valued at the market selling price from the local market, and a cost-benefit analysis was done through the calculation of benefit-cost ratios (BCR). The data was statistically analysed using ANOVA and means were separated using LSD at p <0.05. Results showed significantly high BCR under conservation agriculture (p <0.0001) in all seasons with sole CA having the highest BCR of 9.9 in LR 2014. The BCRs were lower in the first season due to high initial production costs, but this increased steadily in the succeeding seasons. The study concludes that conservation agriculture both with trees and as the sole is beneficial to the farmer, with higher net benefits compared to conventional tillage

Indigenous agriculture at the beginning of the twenty-first century: the Guaraní Mbyás minority conserves ethnoknowledge and agrobiodiversity within the remnants of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

Swidden agricultural practices reflect a great deal of Indigenous and traditional ethnobotanical knowledge; however, such system and livelihoods are in decline worldwide and tend to disappear. This study aimed to survey the main characteristics of land use and agrobiodiversity of the swidden culture practiced by the Guaraní, in Serra do Mar (São Paulo state, Southeast Brazil). We likewise studied the socioeconomic and cultural characteristics of the Guaraní, focusing specifically on their ethnobotanical knowledge, to help conserve traditional agricultural practices in the deep tropics. A total of eighteen ethnobotanical surveys were carried out on 18 production units (10 × 10 m) in the cultivation phase after combustion took place. All species of agricultural use were indicated by the smallholders and identified to species level. Semi-structured interviews based on the design and diagnosis method World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) were carried out in either Portuguese or the native language with 48 smallholders in the village. Main topics discussed were the history of each sampled plot, socio-economic aspects of the production units, aspects of agricultural management to characterize the level of intensification, and forms of managing vegetation and criteria for making decisions about the maintenance of wild species in the agricultural plots. The ethnobotanical survey showed 65 varieties of plants for agricultural use, totaling 39 species, they are used for cultural-ritualistic, ecological, food, economic, medicinal, and ornamental aspects. Main crops found were corn (Zea mays), potato (Solanum tuberosum) and peanut (Arachis hypogaea). Fire is vital for Guarani’s agricultural practices. Fields are small and occupy just 0.25% of the indigenous land. The Guaraní’s traditional agroforest systems are independent of external inputs and are important for conservation of seeds and agrobiodiversity. There are three factors that maintain the dynamics of Guarani’s agricultural systems, namely: religiosity, the network of kinships and the existence of legal owned territories. Swidden and slash and mulch systems are part of the maintenance of the cultural autonomy of the Guaraní, providing them with a way to obtain financial and food resources directly and indirectly from the biome in a sustainable way. Hence, protecting this ethnoecology guarantees the cultural, physical, and social existence of the Guaraní and likewise helps to conserve the remnants of the Atlantic Forest hotspot.

GLOBAL-LOCAL: A new approach for local predictions of soil organic carbon content using large soil spectral libraries

There is much interest in the use of large visible near infrared (vis–NIR) soil spectral libraries for rapid soil analysis and to further soils research. However, the use of such large and diverse spectral libraries often provides biased predictions at local scales. Here, we present a new approach, GLOBAL-LOCAL, which aims to use large libraries to develop spectroscopic models that can fit locally. This is achieved by selecting the most common spectral neighbours of a small representative set (Lab) from the target site using a combination of principal component analysis (PCA) and k-nearest neighbours, followed by selection of the calibration with the lowest root mean square error (RMSE) in predicting the Lab, which is then added to the calibration to derive the GLOBAL-LOCAL. We evaluated this approach by predicting the soil organic carbon (SOC) content in two different target sites, one in Canada (Lévis, QC; N = 111) and the other in Finland (Maaninka; N = 101). Partial least squares regression (PLSR) was used for model development and validation. The soil spectral library used was a combination of that developed by the World Agroforestry Center and International Soil Reference Information Centre (N = 3875), and that developed at the Quebec Research and Development Centre (N = 1051). Based on a preliminary analysis, we selected 25 Lab samples from each target site using conditioned Latin hypercube sampling (cLHS). Prediction accuracy by GLOBAL-LOCAL for Lévis and Maaninka (RMSE = 1.41 and 3.08 g kg−1, RPIQ = 5.9 and 4.1, respectively) were better than using the global calibration (RMSE = 20.3 and 23.6 g kg−1, RPIQ = 0.41 and 0.53, respectively). The GLOBAL-LOCAL was better or similar to calibrations with site-specific samples (RMSE = 2.38 and 4.68 g kg−1, RPIQ = 3.5 and 2.7, respectively) and Lab samples only (RMSE = 1.41 and 2.54 g kg−1, RPIQ = 5.9 and 4.9, for Lévis and Maaninka, respectively). In addition, GLOBAL-LOCAL outperformed three other approaches, RS-LOCAL, the spectrum-based learner and LOCAL. While 25 Lab samples was regarded as optimum by cLHS, further examination revealed that as little as 10 Lab samples may be sufficient for the GLOBAL-LOCAL. The method uses the information in the large spectral library so that it can substantially reduce analytical cost and greatly improve predictions on local scales.

Analysis Distribution of Biomass Carbon of Grasslands, Shrubs, and Rainfed Rice Fields on Dry Land in the Aceh Besar District Indonesia

Abstract This research was conducted to determine plant biomass, carbon potential, and CO2 reserve potential in understory vegetation in general, namely grasslands, shrubs, and rainfed rice fields. The sampling of the research was carried out randomly and intentionally, and was limited to the vegetation of reeds, shrubs and rainfed land bushes in the Aceh Besar District of Indonesia. The sample was taken based on a digitized map obtained from overlaying the land use map, slope map, soil type map, and Aceh Besar government map. Measurement of biomass in the vegetation of Imperata, shrubs, and rainfed rice fields is in accordance with procedures from the Indonesian National Standard (2011) and the World Agroforestry Center. The area of bush vegetation is larger than that of rainfed rice fields and grasslands. In general, the plants found in bush vegetation are Acacia leucoeplhoea, Mimosa pudica, Cyperus rotundus, and Eleusine indica. Grassland vegetation has one plant only, namely, Pennisetum purpureum. The vegetation of rainfed rice fields consists of the Oryza sativa type of plant. Plant biomass, carbon [C] content, and carbon potential in bush vegetation are greater than that of grassland and rainfed rice fields, as well as plant biomass reserves, plant biomass carbon and total CO2 reserves. Shrubs and woody plants render the potential for biomass, carbon, and CO2 absorption greater than that of grassland and rainfed rice fields. This is in accordance with the research that the increase in biomass is followed by an increase in potential carbon storage. Parameters that affect biomass indirectly will also affect carbon storage in a biomass and in an ecosystem, namely, individual density, stem diameter, tree species diversity, and soil. The density of trees in an area will affect the increase in carbon stocks through an increase in biomass. This is because the vegetation of shrubs does not only consist of undergrowth, but also of woody stems such as Acacia leucoeploea, making carbon stock potential in bush vegetation greater than that of grassland and rainfed rice fields, as shrubs cover an area of 96,962.2 ha, hence larger than that of grasslands and rainfed rice fields.

Food security and agroforestry from the perspective of the SDGs: a case study of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea

This study analyses the contribution of agroforestry to the achievement of SDGs based on the performance of agroforestry and North Korea's Voluntary National Review (VNR). Since the early 2000s, North Korea has promoted agroforestry and worked with the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC), the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), and the FAO to expand agroforestry projects. Agroforestry has contributed to the achievement of food security and land restoration in SDG2 and SDG15. The achievement of SDGs from individual agroforestry pilot projects since the early 2000s allows the assessment of agroforestry's contribution to SDGs. North Korea is likely to restore degraded forests by sustainable forest management (SDG15), which emphasises the need for new land cultivation in the VNR to strengthen food security (SDG2). Because agroforestry practices can simultaneously enhance food, nutrition, environmental, and energy security, agroforestry can further contribute to the achievement of other SDGs by discovering models that reflect local characteristics and inducing residents to participate through a strict evaluation of their effectiveness and the use of 'sloping land' management accompanied by the development of cultivation technologies suitable for mixed management with various trees and crops.

Assessing the impact of the adoption of agroforestry technology on food production and poverty reduction among farming households in Oyo State, Nigeria

Assessing the impact of the adoption of agroforestry technology on food production and poverty reduction among farming households in Oyo State, Nigeria

A Scientometric Analysis of Worldwide Intercropping Research Based on Web of Science Database between 1992 and 2020

Intercropping has been practiced worldwide in both traditional and sustainable agriculture to feed the growing population. This study aims to analyze the research status and evolution of intercropping, to identify the influential authors, research centers, and articles, and to reveal the main research topics between 1992 and 2020 based on the Web of Science Core Collection database. The results show that the volume of publications in this field has increased rapidly over the past three decades. The analysis identifies the top three authors (i.e., Meine Van Noordwijk, Wenyu Yang, and Teja Tscharntke), top three contributing organizations (i.e., the World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF), the Chinese Academy of Science, and the INRA), and three most productive countries (i.e., the USA, India, and China). Co-occurrence analysis demonstrates that studies on intercropping can be divided into four clusters as centered by keywords of intercropping/maize, biodiversity/conservation, agroforestry, and carbon, respectively. Lal 2004 is the most influential study with the greatest number of citations and Agroforestry Systems is the most utilized journal. Perspectives on future studies were also given. This study helps researchers to clarify the current research status in the field of intercropping and put forward its future research.

Clinical Effects of Commiphora Myrrha in Oral and Dental Medicine, A Mini Review

The United States Department of Agriculture USDA recognizes Commiphora myrrha, named myrrh, African myrrh, herbal myrrh, Somali myrrh, or gum myrrh as a tree in the Burseraceous family [1]. It is one of the primary trees used in the production of myrrh, a resin made from dried tree sap. According to the world agroforestry center, the tree exists in the middle east (Oman, Yemen) and in some African countries (Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, Northeast Kenya). In Arabic, it is named ‘mur’, which means bitter. It is the gum of the myrrh tree. Its oil is called oleoresin. It famously comes from Mecca, so it is called ‘Mur Makki’ [2].

Sustainability innovation in the agriculture sector in Indonesia: a review

Indonesia as one of the world’s important players in agriculture has great sustainability and innovation challenges. This paper aims to explore the practice of sustainability innovation or sustainability-oriented innovation (SOI) in the agricultural sector in Indonesia. The method used is structured search and analysis, known as a systematic review of scientific articles in the international academic database of Scopus. The qualitative analysis is performed on the articles included in the review. The results show more than 30 articles in international journals involving Indonesian scholars discussing this topic and indicating that the subject is emerging in this area. The development has mainly occurred since about 2018 to date. The top affiliates contributing to the topic came from IPB University, Center for International Forestry Research, Wageningen University and Research, and World Agroforestry Centre. Interestingly, quite a lot of funding for this research comes from abroad, such as Australia, Japan, UK, and US. This field is interdisciplinary with top 3 subject areas, including Agricultural and Biological (23.7%), Social (19.7%), and Environmental (18.4%), indicating the need for interdisciplinary collaborative efforts to develop this scientific area. This paper contributes as an initial attempt to elaborate on the sustainability innovation in the agriculture sector in Indonesia.

Servicio ambiental de captura de carbono de los bofedales del Centro Poblado Alto Perú, Tacna

La evaluación del servicio ambiental de captura de carbono fue realizado en el Centro Poblado Alto Perú, Región de Tacna, de septiembre a diciembre del 2019. El trabajo empezó con la recopilación de información del área de estudio, incluyendo la descarga de imágenes del satélite Landsat 8, con el fin de calcular el Índice de Vegetación de Diferencia Normalizada (NDVI) y así dividir el área de estudio según el estado de conservación de la cobertura vegetal. Posteriormente se procedió a realizar la recolección de las muestras en campo, siguiendo la metodología del Centro Mundial Agroforestal (2009) recolectando tres tipos de muestras denominadas como; cobertura vegetal, turba/necromasa y suelo orgánico con el fin de calcular el carbono orgánico total para cada tipo de muestra. Finalmente los análisis de laboratorio sirvieron para la determinación de la fracción de carbono y la densidad aparente del suelo, cuyos datos fueron utilizados para el stock de carbono total. Los resultados indican que el carbono total es 157,18 Tn C/Ha, demostrándose el alto potencial que tienen los bofedales como aporte al servicio ambiental de captura de carbono; y siendo necesario implementar y reforzar los programas de conservación.

Carbon Sequestration in Agroforestry Systems between Conservation Agriculture and Conventional Practice in The Asal Area of Machakos County, Kenya

Dryland ecosystems have always been prone to relatively high vegetation and general environmental degradation; translating to changes in soil physical and chemical properties and massive carbon losses. Despite their vast surface area, Carbon sequestration therein still remains low. However, this low carbon means they are less saturated and therefore a tremendous potential therein to sequester more Carbon. Conservation agriculture with trees (CAWT) presents an opportunity to reduce the degradation and enhance the carbon stocks. This study was set to compare the biomass productivity and carbon sequestration potential of agroforestry between conventional and conservation agriculture practice. The study was carried out as part of ongoing experimentation established in short rain (SR) season of 2012 by the World Agroforestry Centre in a trial site at the Agricultural Training Centre (ATC) in Machakos county, Kenya. The trials adopted a split plot arranged in a randomized complete block design with two farming systems (conventional and conservation agriculture) as the main blocks, 7 treatments and three replicates, summing to a total of 42 plots. In the fields, two shrub species (Calliandra calothyrsus Meissn. and Gliricidia sepium Jacq.) were planted in three different spacing (1.5x1 m, 3x1 m, 4.5x1 m) for maize-legume intercrops. Trees were harvested by coppicing, weighed and leaf/twig samples taken for determination of biomass, which was then converted to Carbon using a conversion factor 0.5. The data was statistically analyzed using ANOVA and means separated using LSD at p <0.05. Results showed significant increase in carbon sequestration under conservation agriculture (p <0.001), with a yearly sequestration potential of between 12.8 and 24 Mg C/ha/yr compared to 11.6-23 Mg C/ha/yr for conventional practice. Calliandra also sequestered more carbon than Gliricidia. CAWT is therefore concluded to be a feasible way of increasing carbon stocks in the drylands.

The (un)broken promise of agroforestry: a case study of improved fallows in Zambia

In 1999, an article entitled Delivering on the Promise of Agroforestry in this journal showed that agroforestry, including improved fallow systems, had evolved from a collection of activities to a full-fledged recognizable science that was bringing promising results to African farmer needs. This case study specifically examines the promise of soil replenishment in Zambia. In 1999, World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) was extremely active in Zambia, carrying out extensive research and promotion of fertilizer trees for soil replenishment. This paper shows that improved fallows were short-lived. By 2006, it was estimated that over 61,000 farmers were “reached” with improved fallow technologies. Today, improved fallow systems are virtually nonexistent in Zambia. The departure of ICRAF left a “vacuum” and “gap” in agroforestry in Zambia, and, after decades of agroforestry research and promotion, there has not been a “sense of ownership” by the government, the farmers, or other entities to agroforestry. This study shows that the Government of Zambia’s policies toward agroforestry are opportunistic and driven by funding and donor wishes. Numerous institutional and policy factors such as fertilizer subsidies, as well as farmer characteristics, their knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes toward both the technology and its perceived returns and risks, are discussed. If agroforestry is to deliver on its promise, it needs to move away from a focus on mainly technology promotion and instead scale up and address policies and institution building that mainstream it across all sectors, dealing with poverty alleviation and food security.

Climate Change Sensitivity of Multi-Species Afforestation in Semi-Arid Benin

The early growth stage is critical in the response of trees to climate change and variability. It is not clear, however, what climate metrics are best to define the early-growth sensitivity in assessing adaptation strategies of young forests to climate change. Using a combination of field experiments and modelling, we assessed the climate sensitivity of two promising afforestation species, Jatropha curcas L. and Moringa oleifera Lam., by analyzing their predicted climate–growth relationships in the initial two years after planting on degraded cropland in the semi-arid zone of Benin. The process-based WaNuLCAS model (version 4.3, World Agroforestry Centre, Bogor, Indonesia) was used to simulate aboveground biomass growth for each year in the climate record (1981–2016), either as the first or as the second year of tree growth. Linear mixed models related the annual biomass growth to climate indicators, and climate sensitivity indices quantified climate–growth relationships. In the first year, the length of dry spells had the strongest effect on tree growth. In the following year, the annual water deficit and length of dry season became the strongest predictors. Simulated rooting depths greater than those observed in the experiments enhanced biomass growth under extreme dry conditions and reduced sapling sensitivity to drought. Projected increases in aridity implied significant growth reduction, but a multi-species approach to afforestation using species that are able to develop deep-penetrating roots should increase the resilience of young forests to climate change. The results illustrate that process-based modelling, combined with field experiments, can be effective in assessing the climate–growth relationships of tree species.

Breaking Ground: Unearthing the Potential of High-resolution, Remote-sensing Soil Data in Understanding Agricultural Profits and Technology Use in Sub-Saharan Africa

Summary There is a growing interest in how land degradation affects the welfare of the rural poor, especially where environmental conditions continue to worsen and the future of ecosystem health remains uncertain. Nowhere is this more important than in sub-Saharan Africa, where rural poverty remains high and pressure on natural resources continues to build. At the same time, generating more agricultural profits on this land remains crucial to reducing poverty. This research asks how changing land quality, as measured by soil organic carbon (SOC) content, affects agricultural profitability and agricultural technology adoption for poor farmers in Tanzania. It is the first to match high-resolution, remote-sensing soil data to nationally representative household-plot surveys, using the World Bank’s Living Standards Measurement Study and World Agroforestry Centre’s Land Degradation Surveillance Framework. We employ a household fixed effects model that isolates SOC contributions to plot-level agricultural profits, finding positive changes of $7–8 per acre per year for each gram per kilogram change in SOC, with higher sensitivity to SOC differences for farmers with worse quality land. SOC and fertilizer use also exhibit a positive synergistic interaction with plot-level agricultural profits. Despite this, however, we find that SOC levels do not factor into fertilizer adoption decisions, and land quality has a smaller role in how farmers assign value to their land compared to how it contributes to profits. Partly because of a lack of matched, high-resolution, and nationally representative environmental and socioeconomic data, researchers and policymakers typically have not been able to include land quality as a primary dimension on which to analyze agricultural profitability and technology use in sub-Saharan Africa. We conclude that this should be a major factor in both targeting rural development and environmental policies and understanding impacts of long-run land health declines on the world’s poor.

Pitfall or priority drift? Participatory tree domestication programs: The case of agroforestry in the Peruvian Amazon

ABSTRACTThe Agroforestry Tree Domestication Program was globally launched in the 1990s by the World Agroforestry Center to increase farmers’ living standards and slow deforestation. After 20 yr of operation, we screen the impacts on farmers’ livelihoods and prospects in one of the implementation sites: the Ucayali region of the Peruvian Amazon. We contrast the viewpoints of two sets of stakeholders: (a) “outsiders”—scientists, technicians, and development workers; and (2) “insiders”—local farmers organized and not organized. Group and semistructured interviews were used for data collection, and system analyses were conducted for their integration and interpretation. Results diverge by subset. “Outsiders” praised the program lastingness but questioned its dependence on external parties for management; they considered land property and product marketing keys to persist and succeed. In contrast, “insiders” considered the program financially not viable as well as third-party and locally dependent. As an alternative they had initiated activities, both forestry related and otherwise, to profit from their acquired technical and managerial skills. Based on these findings, broadening stakeholders’ diversity and set conveniently roles and decision power during the rationale and implementation phases of similar initiatives could prevent such divergences.

English

Cultivation of Dacryodes edulis (G. Don) H. J. Lam commonly known as safou to improve the livelihood of the local population has been growing rapidly in the range of occurrence of safou and recent emergence of the market chain introduced by the World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF) experts has stimulated this further. Domestication through conventional genetic improvement (breeding) of safou has relied on phenotype selection and quantitative genetics through field trials breeding. Technologies to increase productivity, increase sustainable resource use, respond to climate change and enhance efficiency are required to meet demand. Biotechnology applications give a scope for rapid improvement and also facilitate the breeding program. Advantages of biotechnology application using molecular markers in breeding programs includes: study of genetic diversity, DNA fingerprinting of individuals, easy identification of specific traits or genes of interest, rapid propagation of improved genotypes and integration of gene(s) of interest into the species. It also provides genetic basis for selecting individuals and particular regions of the genome in a breeding program, reduce breeding population, can lead to early selection of traits and the development of a new variety with combination of characteristics. The complementary role of these techniques will be necessary for a successful genetic improvement program in the species. This review examines the achievements obtained using classical techniques, emphasizes missing gaps for the application of molecular techniques and discusses the complementary role of biotechnology techniques for a sustainable genetic improvement program in the species. Keywords: Dacryodes edulis, domestication, population, genetic diversity, multiplication, biotechnology and genetic improvement&nbsp

Phytochemical Profile of Prunus africana Stem Bark from Kenya

Prunus africana (Hook.f.) is an evergreen tree that grows in African mountains. P. africana species’ bark and bark extracts are used for the treatment of benign prostate hyperplasia. The pharmacological efficacy of the extracts is believed to be due to synergistic effect of several compounds such as phytosterols, pentacyclic triterpenoids and ferulic acid esters. High demand for the bark and bark extracts of P. africana has led to over-exploitation of the natural population resulting to it being listed as an endangered species; Appendix II of CITES. Conservation of the species can be done through domestication. However, growth factors need to be established first to ensure success of on-farm production. With this in mind, the World Agroforestry Centre established a P. africana stand at Muguga, Kenya to evaluate the species phytochemical profile and yields. Phytochemistry profiling was carried out using liquid Chromatography coupled to Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). Myristic acid, linoleic acid, lauric acid, methyl myristate, methyl laurate and methyl linoleate were the major compounds present after analysis of essential oils in the bark samples while campesterol, β-sitosterol, lup-20(29)-en-3-one, palmitic acid, β-sitostenone, (3.β.,5.α)- stigmast-7-en-3-ol, stigmastan-3,5-diene and α-tocopherol were detected in dichloromethane and hexane extracts of the three populations. In methanolic extract we detected cyanidin-O-galactoside, cyanidin-3-O-rutinoside, procyanidin B5, robinetinidol- (4-α-8) catechin-(6,4-α)robinetinol and ursolic acid.. All these compounds have been reported to have salutary benefits in humans. The phytochemical data has important implications in coming up with strategies for sustainable harvesting and conservation of this species as well as its management on-farm.

Roger Mead, 1938–2015

Roger Mead, 1938–2015