SDM Project: Experimenting on production of high value market products from indigenous wild fruits

31.08.2015

SUBMITTED ORGANISATION

Nature and Livelihoods

PARTNER ORGANISATIONS

N/A

DATE OF SUBMISSION

August 2015

REGION

Africa

COUNTRY

Uganda

FOCAL POINT

William Olupot

SDM website

More information is available here

Abstract

In Uganda, native vegetation outside protected areas is being rapidly lost to conversion to crop fields. Even the fruit trees that had been maintained in a traditional ‘parkland’ agroforestry system in smallholder farms is now cut and exploited for charcoal production. The vegetation loss cannot be easily halted when tangible economic and subsistence benefits are not being realised from these trees. The NGO Nature and Livelihoods therefore aimed to explore the potential to develop high value market products from native wild fruits widely consumed by local people in the Teso sub-region of eastern Uganda, with a view towards providing farmers an economic incentive to retain these trees in their farmlands. The project built on earlier works that identified species of wild edible fruits, and experimented by using them for production of jams and beverages.

A ‘parkland’ landscape in Uganda
Label for the jam from Physalis single fruits, with the results of nutritional composition analysis