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Indigenous Plants: Opportunities for Communities. Presented to National CBNRM Conference by Sheehamandje Ipinge, IPTT Chairperson 26 October 2004. Money does grow on trees….
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Indigenous Plants: Opportunities for Communities Presented toNational CBNRM Conference by Sheehamandje Ipinge, IPTT Chairperson 26 October 2004
Money does grow on trees… • International trade in natural products is more than US$40 billion a year, growing rapidly, markets interested in novelty • Trend predicted to continue as consumers become more aware (LOHAS) • Namibia’s lower agricultural potential is a global competitive advantage • NP production is highly compatible with other land uses (e.g. eco-tourism) • African products are currently under-represented in world markets
… but withdrawals are not free • Creating trade channels for new products requires investment in R&D and marketing • Primary producers need support to ensure harvesting is sustainable • Private sector will usually only invest when both supply and demand have been demonstrated and are judged reliable • Enabling policy and legislation crucially important for win-win partnerships
…in a way that is: • Environmentally sustainable? • Commercially and technologically realistic under Namibian conditions? • Beneficial to the livelihoods of rural Namibians, especially women, the very poor and other marginalised people? • Compatible with Namibia’s national sustainable development policies? • Fair and equitable?
National efforts to promote IPs • Indigenous Plants Task Team (IPTT) – multi-stakeholder group, to coordinate national strategy:- Ministries- Research and academic - NGOs (incl. NACSO)- Farmers’ union • Establishing Eco-regionalSatellite Centers- CBNRM interface?
National efforts (cont.) • Promoting Indigenous Fruit (PIF) project – MAWRD funding • Useful Plants Development Project (UPDP) – US funding • National Agricultural Services Support Project (NASSP) – EU and GRN funding – includes indigenous plants component
National efforts (cont.) • Devil’s Claw Working Group • Hoodia Working Group • Directorate of Forestry/FAO project on indigenous fruit trees • Community Forestry (NFFP) • Access to Genetic Resources legislation
Southern African perspectives • PhytoTrade Africa – the Southern African Natural Products Trade Association: R&D and market development on behalf of members in 7 SADC countries • IUCN (SA) NATPRO: Aims to raise N$22 million for primary producer support, policy and advocacy • Regional cooperation around cross-border resources is crucial (e.g. Devil’s Claw Range States Working Group, Hoodia listing on CITES App. II)
Of serious interest… • Hoodia and other succulents • Indigenous vegetables • Medicinal species, e.g. Terminalia and Combretum • Gums and resins, e.g. Commiphora andAcacia • Kalahari truffles • Essential oils • Fruit products • Lipid oils
Namibia produce 80+% of world’s Devil’s Claw – in 2002 ± 1000 tons (dry, sliced) • Very NB source of income for extremely poor, marginalised harvesters • Hardly any value-adding inside Namibia • The current trade resulted from 50 years of industry investment in research trials and product development • Sustainability concerns have arisen and are being addressed (harvesting guidelines, cultivation) • Value retention remains low due to lack of cooperation between producers
Marula oil • Long cultural tradition, but ondjove not suitable for formal markets • TMOP started ’96 (EWC, OoP, CRIAA SA-DC, Namdeb SF) • Cold-pressed marula oil incorporated into The Body Shop’s whole make-up range (launched 2002)
Develop system to collate kernels – flexi-time home-based income for women • Design and build suitable press • INCI registration and regulatory compliance • Quality control • Product development • On-going research • Growing the market • Patent?
Eudafano Factory, Ondangwa Gearing up for the future…
Very different from marula – annual weed, lower oil content, tough seed coat • Low extraction rate with available technology – seeds exported to develop market and justify investment; oil now processed in Namibia (Oontanga) • NB source of water in Kalahari – currently not sourced from wild harvest, guidelines needed • Major potential as alternative crop • NBRI selecting superior oilseed strains • Even just trading KMS seeds required technology development
King Nehale Conservancy • Major KMS supplier – facilitates intakes • 40 tons/a = N$80’000 directly to producers- very good for KNC’s image in community, institutional and organisational capacity, sustainability (N$10’000 commission for expenses) • Provides alternative income while revenues from wildlife and tourism are low
Appetite suppressant properties patented by CSIR and licensed to Phytopharm • Benefit-sharing deal with the San • CITES Appendix II listing allows government-certified material • Namibia and Phytopharm are negotiating terms of collaboration • Wild-harvesting (?) vs enrichment planting on range land vs smallholder cultivation vs large plantations • Illustrates the value of being pro-active about useful plant resources
Manketti • Available in very large quantities, but no significant market yet • Can procurement through conservancy networks lower the oil price enough to make paint/varnish markets feasible? • 20% of trees bear double nuts; truncheons grow easily – if market warrants production can be increased in ways that benefit the environment and preserve landscape values
Adansonia digitata (baobab) • Kigelia africana (sausage tree) • Hyphaene petersiana (makalani palm) • Strychnos spp. (monkey orange) • Diospyros mespiliformis (jackal berry) • Vangueria infausta (wild medlar) • Grewia spp. (brandybush) • Ziziphus mucronata (buffalo thorn) • Tylosema esculenta (Gemsbok bean) • Cucumis metuliferus (African horned cucumber) • Guibourtia coleosperma (false mopane)
NB points to think about: • Many communities have a large pool of “natural capital” in the form of useful plant resource endowments • Some resources (e.g. marula in the NCRs) are more private than communal • Security of tenure is fundamental to sustainable management (and CBNRM) • Traditional knowledge adds value and enables benefit sharing, but benefits must be created before they can be shared
An ecosystem approach to CBNRM implies that indigenous plant resources be monitored and managed routinely • By definition CBNRM can only become sustainable once it passes the “break even point” where the revenue from resources exceeds the cost of managing them • Plant products are typically harvested in small quantities by large numbers of people – income is distributed more directly and evenly than when centralised through hunting or tourism
Community-level processing ventures often fail due to bad management, lack of scale economies, poor quality control • The fundamental strengths of communities in the market are their ownership of the primary resources, and their ability to organise the collation of commercial quantities at reasonable transaction cost • Options for community-private sector partnerships must be fully explored before investment decisions are finalised
