Senegal's 'upside-down' tree yields profits for producers

What looks to be a freak of nature is increasingly becoming a fruit of prosperity for the rural poor in Senegal. The baobab, Africa's ubiquitous "upside-down" tree, catches every tourist's eye, but it means much more to the local people. Its fruit and its bark help many to make a living.

The baobab, with its massive trunk, twisted branches and furry fruit, is a true survivor in dry, hostile climates. The pulp can be eaten to fight off inflammation and diarrhea or soaked in water to make a tasty juice rich in vitamin C and a host of minerals. The bark is used to make rope and the leaves are put in the cooking pot to add flavor to local dishes. Many say its pulp is good for the skin.

Baobab has a lot going for it, but it isn't always easy to turn a profit from it. For years, Adama Traore struggled to generate an income by harvesting baobab fruit in his village of Waly Babacar in central Senegal. On average, he would collect two sacks of broken fruit a day during the peak season. Itinerant buyers would come to the village and pay about 2000 CFA (nearly $4) for a 25 kg sack of broken baobab. Sometimes they would pay less.

Occasionally Adama would take his baobab fruit to the market in Kothiary, 20 kms away, in a bid to fetch a better price. But there he discovered that "bana-bana" buyers formed cartels to fix the buying price, knowing that Adama would have nowhere to store his produce. He had no choice but to accept whatever price they offered, and after covering his transport costs, he often left Kothiary with less profit than he would have made selling the fruit in the village.

In August 2003, Wula Nafaa, a project financed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), intervened to help increase producer profits. As part of its varied activities, Wula Nafaa teamed up with the Baobab Fruit Company (BFC - www.baobabfruitco.com), an Italian pharmaceutical firm that manufactures face creams and beauty products made uniquely from baobab seeds, pulp, shell, bark and leaves.

BFC, through their intermediary, Enterprise Intercontinental Négoce, agreed to pay a price of about 2250 CFA for a larger sack of unbroken baobab (about 32 kg whole, 15 kg broken) - effectively increasing prices by up to 87 percent. Wula Nafaa has also encouraged the signing of contracts between baobab producer groups and the Senegalese transportation firm contracted by BFC. Twenty-four contracts signed to deliver a minimum of 150 tons of unshelled baobab, which would lead to a regional income of about $20,000.

The initiative is drawing attention in the forest product sector. "Instead of selling baobab fruit, this year I plan on becoming a producer," said businessman Maha Cissokho on hearing the price offered by the BFC.

Looking ahead to future harvests, Wula Nafaa facilitators in Senegal's Bala region have worked with producers to form Baobab Producer Groups.

Cheikh Diop is now an active member of the Baobab Producer Group in Waly Babacar and has sold 32 sacks to BFC for a profit of $140. He has also benefited from increased bargaining power of the producer group for the sale of broken fruit not sold to BFC. Prices for broken fruit have recently increased by about 25 percent.

According to Adama, the harvest of baobab fruit in 2003 was more profitable than traditional produce -- peanuts, corn and millet. He's getting a reputation as an agricultural reformer, and his new nickname in the village is Wula Nafaa, meaning "the benefits of the forest" in the local Bambara language.