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Uses, management, and population status of the baobab in eastern Burkina Faso

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Abstract

Many cash-poor households in the semi-arid tropics strongly depend on non-timber forest products (NTFPs) for livelihood. Increasing threats on NTFP-providing tree species, due to land-use intensification, require ecological studies as well as additional information about species’ uses and management provided by local people. The objectives of our study were to (i) document uses and management of the baobab (Adansonia digitata L.), (ii) investigate knowledge distribution among genders and different villages, and (iii) assess the population status of the baobab in eastern Burkina Faso. We conducted an ethnobotanical survey among Gulimanceba people and performed a quantitative analysis using different measures of knowledge. Interviews reveal that the baobab is harvested by local people for 25 use-types. The fruits are the most important plant part and baobab products are of special importance for nutritional uses. Local management of baobab seems to be so far sufficient to maintain baobab populations. The fact that we found some differences in uses and management of baobab between genders and villages emphasizes the importance of gender- and region-related management recommendation. People are able to use and manage the baobab in a relative sustainable way as human population density is relatively low and as they have relatively good access to the forest compared to other regions of Burkina Faso. However, in the light of land-use and climate changes, adapted management strategies are required. We conclude that ethnobotanical studies on a small-scale level are of high importance in order to develop management strategies that are reliable in a specific region.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the funding of this project by SUN (FP7 INCO-dev 031685). We thank the “LOEWE Program” (Landes-Offensive zur Entwicklung Wissenschaftlich-ökonomischer Exzellenz) of the State of Hesse for the financial support of the Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F). We are grateful to all foresters of the Provincial and Departmental Forestry Office in Diapaga and all foresters working at ECOPAS for their support. We want to thank Sidiki Bourgou for assistance during interviews, Yvonne Bachmann for compilation of the map, and Julie Poppe (Institute for Anthropological Research in Africa, Catholic University Leuven) and Marcel Koadima (Department of Plant Biology and Physiology, University of Ouagadougou) for providing help with orthography in Gulimancema. We also thank two anonymous reviewers for their very constructive and helpful comments. Finally and mostly, our warm thanks go to all informants for sharing their knowledge about baobab.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Ecology, Evolution and Diversity, J.W. Goethe University, Max-von-Laue-Straße 13, 60438, Frankfurt, Germany

    Katharina Schumann, Rüdiger Wittig & Karen Hahn

  2. Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Senckenberganlage 25, 60325, Frankfurt, Germany

    Rüdiger Wittig & Karen Hahn

  3. Department of Plant Biology and Physiology, UFR-SVT, University of Ouagadougou, 09 BP 848, Ouagadougou, 09, Burkina Faso

    Adjima Thiombiano

  4. Green School in the Botanical Garden of Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Anselm-Franz-von-Bentzel-Weg 9b, 55128, Mainz, Germany

    Ute Becker

Authors
  1. Katharina Schumann
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  2. Rüdiger Wittig
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  3. Adjima Thiombiano
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  4. Ute Becker
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  5. Karen Hahn
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Katharina Schumann.

Appendix

Appendix

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Table 8 Preparation and application of the different food, construction, and medicinal uses of A. digitata
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Schumann, K., Wittig, R., Thiombiano, A. et al. Uses, management, and population status of the baobab in eastern Burkina Faso. Agroforest Syst 85, 263–278 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-012-9499-3

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