Bush mango use and trade in Cameroon sustainability, equity and development?

Bush mango use and trade in
Cameroon sustainability,
equity and development?
Presentaiton to 5th International Non-Wood Forest Products Symposium September 27-28 2023
Verina Ingram, Wagenignen University & Resaearch, Nick van Alphen Wagenignen University & Resaearch, Sarah Laird Plants & People Internaitonal, Abdon Awono CIFOR-ICRAF, Robert Nkuinkeu World botanical Exchange & Services, Ruksan Bose Congo Basin institute UCLA, Louis Ndumbe University of Buea

1. Bush mango use and trade in
Cameroon -sustainability,
equity and development?
Verina Ingram
1*
, Nick van Alphen
1
, Sarah Laird
2
, Abdon Awono
3
, Robert Nkuinkeu
4
, Ruksan Bose
5
, Louis Ndumbe
6
1
Wageningen University & Research
2
Plants & People International
3
CIFOR-ICRAF
4
World Botanical Exchange & Services
5
Congo Basin InstituteUCLA
6
University of Buea
*[email protected]

2. Background: Bush mango
-Key NTFP in Congo Basin humid forest zone,
uses in food & nutrition, medicinal, generate
income & cultural values
-Different species: Irvingia gabonensis & Irvingia
wombolu, Klainedoxaand Desbordesia–many
local names:mangue sauvage, ndo’o, andok,
peké, agbono, dika nut.......
-Increasing international trade as nutraceutical,
botanical and health product, called “wild” or
“african” mango
-Ecologically important: CBD, CITES, IUCN
Red list, national permits

3. Research objectives
How increasing & changing commercialisation affects
sustainability of trade and the species
1.Socio-economic status of trade
2.Impacts of the bricolage of governance
arrangements
3.Role of knowledge in governing use and trade
4.Ecological impacts & implications for
conservation
5.Implications for science, policy and practices
NTFP at nexus of wicked problems: climate change,
deforestation, poverty and development
Sustainable and
equitable trade
Conservation
dilemmas
Interactions
indigenous,
local, scientific
& policy
knowledge

4. Methodology
-Primary data collection 2022 -2023:
-Semi-structured interviews using value chain framework
purposeful & snowball sampling with direct and indirect
value chain actors (government, harvesters, traders,
exporters, researchers, development a& conservation
NGOs)
-Participation in 2 workshops on NWFPs
-Secondary data collection
-Extensive literature review
-Websearch
-Government statistics

5. Theoretical Frameworks
Critical institutionalism & bricolage Value chain governance analysis
Cleaver (2012), Cleaver & De Koning (2015), Ingram et al (2015) Gereffiet al (2005), Ingram (2014, 2017)

6. RQ1: Socio-economic status bush
mango trade
●Overall indications trade food use in Cameroon & Nigeria significantly
increasing
●Small but growing exports for new applications and products
●Production, trade & export statistics highly variable & incomplete
●Harvesters conduct preliminary processing
●Gradual increase processing by small enterprises
●Gendered value chain participation
●Harvesters price takers, few market informaiton systems
●Strong annual & seasonal production variability
●Anglophone crisis affected availability
Year 2008/9 201720192022
Exports*
(tons)
1528
(SW)
3125 309 982
(SW)
* Ewaneet al., 2009; Ingram et al., 2017; GIZ, 2019; Internal MINFOF Statistics
Conflict zones Cameroon
Major national trade & export routes, Cameroon
NIGERIA
CAMEROON

7. RQ1: Socio economic status -Nutraceutical market
●New but opaque market -
estimated 100M$ annually*
●Maybe a boom-bust product
●Small quantities needed (extract
ratios of 20:1 -4:1) –exported
from Nigeria & Cameroon
●Majority of nutraceutical
processing in China
*African Mango Seed Extract Market -Persistence Market Research (2018).

8. RQ1: Socio economic status -Cosmetic market
●Oil/butter & extract
●Consistent quality important product
characertistic
●Demand and international value chain
opaque
●Low volumes
●Primarily sourced West Africa: Ivory
Coast, Togo, Benin

9. RQ1: Socio economic status -Increasing applications
•Kernel oil: Biodiesel (Bello et al., 2011)
•Bark & seed: Medical (Okolo et al., 1995,
Olorundareet al., 2020).
•Kernel: Woodbinder (Alawode, 2019)
•Fruit: Wine, jelly, jam (Mateus-Reguengo et al.,
2020, Leakey 2017)
•Kernel oil: Cocoa butter substitute (Yamoneka
et al., 2018)

10. RQ2: Bricolage of governance arrangements
Customary
Market-
based
Corruption
Statutory
•Community, informal
•Associations
•Exploring Fairwild
certification
•Permits
•Transport
•Forestry Laws &
Decrees, permits
waybills
•Policies
•International conventions
Nagoya Protocol -ABS,
CEMAC/COMIFAC
Convergence Plan, IUCN
Redlist, CITES?
●Shifting bricolage affects access to resources
(ownership) and access to markets
●Highly variable implementation of a cocktail
different arrangements in different locations
●Weaking traditions, highly varying customary tree,
forest & land tenure arrangements
●Some formal zonation (timber concessions,
protected areas) restricts customary access
●Low awareness & enforcement of statutory laws
●Outdated IUCN Redlist & national protected
status
●Wild and cultivated sources undistinguished
●Abuses of power and pervasive corruption –partly
related to resource variability

11. RQ3: Role of knowledge in governance use and trade
●Increasing scientific information on new uses, which different from
traditional uses: Potentially no CBD ABS implications of new uses
●Disconnected scientific, local AND largely undocumented indigenous
knowledge on species, uses and properties
●Disparate knowledge held and used by government, international
policymakers in conventions, national and international industry
●Potential wider application of traditional uses & processing
knowledges, also given high nutritional values, albeit with ABS and IP
issues if commercialized
●Intellectual property rights for new bush mango products unclear

12. RQ4: Ecological impacts & implications for conservation
●Increasing variability in quantities harvested
○Potential influence of climate change
○Low natural regeneration –exacerbated by harvest
pressure, increasingly limited faunal dispersal & forest
degradation
●Variable knowledge and application among harvesters of
sustainable harvest practices
●Debates about availability vs accessibility (Hirai et al., 2020) given
gradient of harvesting impact from west to eastern
Cameroon
●Multiple signals species and ecosystem vulnerability-not
reflected in laws and IUCN species red listings
●Long term consequences of low regeneration
●Bucket term “bush mango” disguises diversity of species
providing valuable ingredients & products and confounds
conservation
(Evariste & Bernard-Aloys, 2016)
Nkongmeneck(1999), Hirai (2014), Zapfack& Ngobo(2001), Fongnzossie et al. (2010), Fongnzossie et al. (2014), Fokou-Sakam(2008), Evariste & Bernard-Aloys (2016), Ewaneet al (2009), Ingram et al (2017)
Ngansopet al., (2019), Ndumbe et al. (2022), Campos-Arceiz& Blake (2011), Amin et al., (2020)

13. Implications
Science
•Consolidate & share
knowledge on species used,
valuable properties and
processing
•Investigate viability of
sustainable harvest
techniques and indicators
•Understanding effects of
changes in dispersal, forest
degradation, climatic and
ecosystem changes
•Research on ecological and
socio-economic sustainability
of export and new
applications
Policy
•Need robust trade data including
exports & markets to aid policy
revision
•Need to harmonize statutory &
customary resource & land tenure
•Laws distinguishing wild from
cultivated sources
•Harvest pressure and privatization
linked to market access
•No implications of new products
for CBD
•Review vulnerability & Redlist
status
Practice
•Processing options in
Cameroon to add value
•Actions to change power
concentrated in end markets
•Domestication and cultivation
for long term sustainability

14. Thank you to all research participants !
More information?
[email protected]