Indigenous Fruit Trees of Madagascar: Potential Components of Agroforestry Systems to Improve Human Nutrition and Restore Biological Diversity

background

This study focuses on three sites in the humid forest of Eastern Madagascar, namely Masoala, Andasibe and Ranomafana.

Research Goals & Methods

A total of 150 wild fruit tree species from 82 genera and 42 families were identified through interviews with the local populations, from which a further 26 indigenous and exotic fruit species were shortlisted based on taste, nutritional value, income generation potential, diversification from currently planted species and biodiversity protection. 

Conclusions & Takeaways

Trees with edible fruit are highly site specific, with 102 species out of 150 found only at a single site. Children consume a larger quantity and variety of wild fruits than adults and are able to identify over 75 percent of fruiting species. Adults recognize the importance of wild fruits to child nutrition and do not cut regenerating fruiting tree species in fallow areas (post field abandonment after slash and burn agriculture). Collection of wild fruits occurs mainly in areas with secondary regrowth in fallow areas and much less frequently in primary forest due to difficulty in accessing the trees . Distance to markets, low prices and difficulty of accessing fruit trees in primary forests makes selling indigenous wild fruits, and planting indigenous fruit trees in farms unattractive. Lemurs are the main seed dispersal agents in the humid forest, due to lack of frugivorous birds and bats as a result of evolutionary pathways. Thus, planting fruiting trees will support lemur populations and forest regeneration, potentally generating ecotourism opportunities as a result.