Commercialization Potential of Africa’s Indigenous Fruit Trees (IFTs) and Their Products for Enhancing Nutrition and Rural Livelihoods

Indigenous fruits have the potential to address food security in Africa through the provision of nutrition and maintenance of sustainable livelihoods. Fruit trees are not only an important food source but also provide valuable vitamins, fats, sugar, protein and fibres that human bodies require. Whereas the contribution of Indigenous Fruit Trees (IFTs) to household nutrition and rural livelihoods is evident, their potential for commercialization needs to be enhanced by improving the standards of value-added products for the international markets. The few IFT products that have already penetrated the international markets have shown potential for more growth owing to their nutritional, adaptative and market values. Commercialization can further be improved through domestication of important IFTs and the use of eco-labelling through the fair-trade. This chapter shows that very few indigenous fruits and fruit tree products have been developed as commercial products in the African multi-functional landscapes. Prominently, there are five fruit tree species whose products have reached the international market and are already contributing to local community and national incomes, namely: Adansonia digitata, Allanblackia spp, Sclerocarya birea, Vitellaria paradoxa, Ziphiphus mauritiana and Irvingia gabonensis. The commercialization process of indigenous fruits and fruit products is hindered by various factors including the limited shelf life of these fruits and their seasonality and perishability, low domestication levels, low awareness and demand, inadequate research and development, policy and regulatory challenges, land use and agricultural practices, limited access to finance and investment. There is also limited development of the IFT value chain in Africa—few enterprises with no formal markets. Many IFT products are, therefore, unable to make it to the international market because of poor quality standards, low value addition, poor infrastructure and investment in market research and development.