Biodiversity and socioeconomic factors supporting farmers' choice of wild edible trees in the agroforestry systems of Benin (West Africa)

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Abstract

Wild edible trees are expected to play a significant role in the crop diversification programs and agroforestry development in Africa. In the present study, the diversity of wild food species and socio-economical factors that support farmers' choice for the species used in these systems were assessed. A number of selected sites in each of the 3 climatic zones of Benin were surveyed. Data were collected through a field exploration and a semi-structured survey among 435 selected households throughout the country, using a questionnaire. The most culturally important species ranked by locals were determined for each climatic zone and the relations between the targeted species in traditional agroforestry systems and the reasons which support peasants' choices were described through a Principal Component Analysis. A total of 43 wild edible trees were found in the traditional agroforestry systems of Benin during the survey. Traditional agroforestry systems in the Guineo-Congolian zone turned out to be the most diversified with 29 species followed by the Sudanian zone with 22 species and Sudano-Guinean zone with 16 species. The most culturally important wild edible trees in traditional agroforestry systems in the Guineo-Congolian zone were different from those identified in Sudanian and Sudano-Guinean zones. Three main reasons that support peasants' ambition to conserve or to grow wild edible trees in their field were: their contribution to food, their use in traditional medicine and ceremonies and the farmers' perception of their availability in natural vegetation.

Highlights

► We assess species diversity and factors supporting their choice in agroforestry. ► Traditional agroforestry systems in the Guineo-Congolian zone is the most diversified. ► Food, medicine and availability are factors that support species choice in agroforestry.

Introduction

Traditional agroforestry systems are the result of a long evolutionary process during which an association between natural elements such as trees and shrubs share the same stands with crops and sometimes with households (Kyndt et al., 2009). These systems are full of indigenous species that provide important environmental services or economically valuable products traditionally obtained from natural forest (Leakey and Simons, 1998). Indeed, wild food plants play a very important role in the livelihoods of rural communities. They serve as alternatives to staple food during periods of food deficit (Asfaw and Tadesse, 2001, Vodouhê et al., 2009) and are also one of the primary alternative sources of income for many rural communities (Shrestha and Dhillion, 2006, Fandohan et al., 2010). These communities depend on them mainly for herbal medicines, food, forage, construction of dwellings, making household implements, beds and sleeping mats, and for firewood and shade (Gemedo-Dalle et al., 2005, Vodouhê et al., 2009). Moreover, such plants are valuable genetic resources that can be used for new crop species development (Atangana et al., 2002, Dhillion et al., 2004). However, in general, little is known on wild food plants diversity, the reasons supporting their integration in agroforestry systems and local communities' preferences about morphological traits of integrated species. These data are useful to enhance agroforestry's capacity to fulfill its potential and to secure long-term availability of food resources. They are also needed to support conservation of plant diversity, as well as sources of species that may be domesticated (Shrestha and Dhillion, 2006).

The environmental services that agroforestry practices can provide, and especially their potential contribution to the conservation of biodiversity, have only recently attracted wider attention among agroforestry and conservation scientists (Mcneely and Schroth, 2006). Many authors have shown that traditional agroforestry practices contribute to the conservation of biodiversity through in situ conservation of tree species on farms, reduction of pressure on remnant forests, and the provision of suitable habitat for a number of plant and animal species on farmland (Atta-Krah et al., 2004, Ouinsavi et al., 2005, McNeely and Schroth, 2006, Acharya, 2006). Despite the number of literature related to the importance of this land use strategy, much still remains to be learned mainly concerning socio-economic factors that support the practice of these systems.

In the present study, we attempted to assess the farm diversity of wild food species and socio-economical factors that support farmers' choice for wild edible tree species. The research was conducted in Benin (West Africa); a good example to assess traditional agroforestry systems trees diversity considering the fact that, the presence of trees on farmland in this country as in other West African countries started since the beginning of agriculture and knowledge about their use has only recently been consolidated into the science of agroforestry (Djossa et al., 2008, Ouinsavi and Sokpon, 2008, Kyndt et al., 2009, Assogbadjo et al., 2005a, Assogbadjo et al., 2005b, Assogbadjo et al., 2006, Assogbadjo et al., 2008, Assogbadjo et al., 2009, Fandohan et al., 2010).

Following insights from previous studies showing that the practice of agroforestry systems nearby natural habitat increases wild biodiversity conservation (Acharya, 2006, McNeely and Schroth, 2006), we made the assumption that traditional agroforestry systems richness in wild food species vary between the different ecological zones of the country. On the basis of the preliminary results and knowledge of ethnic group affiliation effects on traditional agroforestry systems practices (Acharya, 2006, Bellow et al., 2008), we also made the assumption that the diversity of wild food species may vary between the different ethnic groups. We also assessed the factors which support local communities' preferences for wild edible trees used in these systems. The objectives of this paper are to 1) assess traditional agroforestry richness in wild edible trees, 2) identify the most culturally important species in the country and, 3) determine factors which support local communities' preference for the species.

Section snippets

Study area

The study was conducted in the three climatic zones of Benin, located between 6° and 12°50′ N and 1° and 3°40′ E in West Africa (Fig. 1). The climatic zones considered in this study are: the Sudanian zone located between 9°45′ and 12°25′ N, the Sudano-Guinean zone located between 7°30′ and 9°45′ N and the Guineo-Congolian zone located between 6°25′ and 7°30′ N. In the Sudanian zone, the mean annual rainfall is often less than 1000 mm and the relative humidity varies from 18 to 99% (highest in

Wild edible trees used in traditional agroforestry systems

A total of 43 wild edible trees (24 families) were found in the traditional agroforestry systems in Benin during the survey (see Appendix 1). The most represented family was Leguminosae (seven species), followed respectively by Annonaceae, Sapotaceae, Sterculiaceae (four species each), Anacardiaceae (three species), Rubiaceae and Verbenaceae (two species each). Seventeen families were represented by only one species.

Traditional agroforestry systems in the Guineo-Congolian zone turn out to be

Discussion and conclusions

The study reveals out the traditional agroforestry systems richness in wild edible trees in Benin. A total of 43 different wild edible trees were found on farms throughout the country. The implementation of these systems consists in maintaining useful seedlings or trees on farmlands when preparing a plot for cropping or the deliberate farmers' ambition to grow some useful species in the field. Therefore, this study reinforced the evidence of the farms role as biodiversity reservoirs played by

Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the National Geographic Society Grant for Research and Exploration (USA) through a grant provided to Dr. Ir. Achille E. Assogbadjo in 2009. We are grateful to the local communities who participated in this research. Our acknowledgments also go to the colleagues Ir. Azihou Fortuné and Lokonon Bruno who have helped for the field works and ethnobotanical surveys.

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