In Southwest and Littoral Regions of Cameroon
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UNIVERSITY OF BUEA FACULTY OF SCIENCES DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES MARKETS AND MARKET CHAIN ANALYSIS FOR ERU (Gnetum spp.) IN SOUTH WEST AND LITTORAL REGIONS OF CAMEROON BY Ndumbe Njie Louis BSc. (Hons) Environmental Science A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Science of the University of Buea in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Natural Resources and Environmental Management July 2010 ii DEDICATION This work is dedicated to the Almighty God who gave me the ability to carryout this project. To my late father Njie Mojemba Maximillian I and my beloved little son Njie Mojemba Maximillian II. iii iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank the following people: Dr A. F. Nkwatoh, of the University of Buea, for his supervision and guidance; Verina Ingram, of CIFOR, for her immense technical guidance, supervision and support; Abdon Awono, of CIFOR, for guidance and comments; Jolien Schure, of CIFOR, for her comments and field collaboration. I also wish to thank the following organisations: Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the Netherlands Development Organization (SNV), the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) and the Commission des Forets d‟Afrique Centrale (COMIFAC) for the opportunity to work within their framework and for the team spirit and support. I am also very grateful to the following collaborators: Ewane Marcus of University of Buea; Ghislaine Bongers of Wageningen University, The Netherlands and Georges Nlend of University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland for their collaboration in the field. Thanks also to Agbor Demian of Mamfe. Special thanks go to Dr. Ousseynou Ndoye, Armand Assend Ze, Irine Ako and Daniel Knoop of the FAO for their comments and orientation before starting this work and particularly to all those actors who participated in the interviews. v ABSTRACT „Gnetum‟ (Gnetum africanum and Gnetum buchholzianum) is a leafy vine found in Central African tropical humid forests. The leaves are harvested and traded principally as a vegetable in Cameroon and neighbouring Nigeria. Manyu, Kupe-Manengouba and Ndian divisions in the Southwest and Mungo in Littoral were selected as important production areas where little data exists. Participatory rural appraisal tools were used to gather information from producers, retailers, exporters, middlemen and restaurants in the divisions and markets in Cameroon and Nigeria. Seven different trading channels exist from the 2 regions, employing an estimated 1895 people (759 producers, 60 traders, 138 exporters, 141 importers, 267 retailers and 330 in support services). Gnetum contributes up to 62% of producer‟s income, with an annual average profit of 598,729 FCFA. It provides up to 75% of retailer‟s and 58% of exporter‟s incomes, giving an average exporter at Idenau an annual average profit of 481,708,750 FCFA. The better organised Nigerian wholesalers average profit is almost double their Cameroonian counterparts. Processing is generally simple and does not add significant value or reduce perishability greatly. Whilst a regulatory framework for Gnetum exists as Special Forestry Product, the majority of respondents traded without permits. Increasing quantities harvested, combined with a lack of regulatory or customary control of harvest coupled with no enforcement of permits, a very low level of domestication and increasing consumer demand have led to an unsustainable trade situation, indicated by a reduction from 336 tonnes from 2007 to 2008. Correspondingly, the price has increased by 100 CFA per kg on average from 2007- 2009. Recommendations include linking actors in the Cameroon chains; domestication programs to increase and more effective and enforceable regulatory and customary control measures to allow this highly profitable trade and important income generator to continue in the long term. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION .................................................................................................................. ii CERTIFICATION .......................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................ iv ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... v TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................ vi LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... ix LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... x LIST OF PLATES ........................................................................................................... xi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ....................................................... xii CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background ................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Problem statement ....................................................................................................... 3 1.3 Objectives of the study................................................................................................ 4 1.4 Scope of the Study ..................................................................................................... 4 1.5 Limitations and delimitations of the study .................................................................. 5 1.6 Hypothesis................................................................................................................... 5 CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Definition of Concepts ................................................................................................ 6 2.2 Value Chain Analysis (VCA) Approach................................................................... 15 2.3 The sustainable livelihoods (SL) approach ............................................................... 17 2.4 Identification of Species .......................................................................................... 18 2.5 Nutritional and medicinal value ................................................................................ 21 2.6 Gnetum trade in Cameroon ....................................................................................... 22 vii CHAPTER THREE MATERIALS AND METHODS 3.1 Study Area ................................................................................................................ 29 3.2 Sampling Methods .................................................................................................... 41 3.3 Data Collection ......................................................................................................... 45 3.4 Analytical procedure ................................................................................................. 47 CHAPTER FOUR RESULTS 4.1 Gnetum species ......................................................................................................... 49 4.2 Gnetum actors and market channels ......................................................................... 50 4.3 Producer sources of household Income .................................................................... 51 4.4 Traders ...................................................................................................................... 52 4.5 Managers ................................................................................................................... 52 4.6 Retailers .................................................................................................................... 53 4.7 Processors ................................................................................................................. 53 4.8 Restaurants ................................................................................................................ 54 4.9 Exporters ................................................................................................................... 54 4.10 Nigerian importers and retailers .............................................................................. 55 4.11 Support actors ......................................................................................................... 55 4.12 Environmental Sustainability .................................................................................. 56 4.13 Production ............................................................................................................... 58 4.14 Quantities Sold, Traded and Exported .................................................................... 59 4.15 Actors‟ profit margins ............................................................................................. 60 4.16 Nigerian Markets Buying and Selling Prices .......................................................... 63 4.17 Average Profit per Nigerian Importer ..................................................................... 63 4.18 Comparison of profit margins ................................................................................. 64 4.19 Test of Hypothesis .................................................................................................. 64 4.20 Constraints faced by main actors in Cameroon ...................................................... 64 viii CHAPTER