FAO COMMODITY AND TRADE POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER No. 49 THE CONTRIBUTION OF TREE CROP PRODUCTS TO SMALLHOLDER HOUSEHOLDS A CASE STUDY OF BAOBAB, SHEA, AND NÉRÉ IN BURKINA FASO The contribution of tree crop products to smallholder households A case study of baobab, shea, and néré in Burkina Faso by Camilla Audia, SOAS, University of London Bartélémy Kaboret, TREE AID Rebecca Kent, Canterbury Christ Church University Tony Hill, TREE AID Nigel Poole, SOAS, University of London Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Rome, 2015 The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. 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FAO information products are available on the FAO website (www.fao.org/ publications) and can be purchased through [email protected]. iv Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1 SUMMARY 2 INTRODUCTION 3 Market access 3 Household decision making 4 Aim and objectives 4 THE SaHELIAN REGION: THE BURKINA CONTEXT 5 Environment 5 Social organization 5 Resources management 6 Tree foods 6 METHODOLOGY 7 Research approach 7 Sampling 8 Quality control 9 RESULTS 9 Sample overview 9 Household demography 9 Education 10 Communication assets 10 Transportation assets 11 Water 11 Household fuel 11 Agricultural land 11 Livestock ownership 12 TREE RESOURCES BY HOUSEHOLD 12 Baobab 13 Access and collection 13 Processing and utilization 15 Sales 16 Replanting and regeneration 17 Shea 17 Access and collection 17 Processing 18 Sales 19 Replanting and regeneration 20 Néré 20 Access and collection 21 Processing 22 Sales 22 Replanting and regeneration 22 v KEY RESULTS AND IMPLICATIONS 23 Sample features 23 Access to, and productivity of, assets, subsistence and production for sale 26 The connectivity of smallholders to markets 26 The functionality of markets 27 CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS AND DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES 27 Utilization 27 Species differences and regionality 28 Developmental implications 28 Further research 28 BIBLIOGRAPHY 29 APPENDIX 31 FIGURES 32 Figure 1. Tree product usage - Passoré (northern site) 13 Figure 2. Tree product usage - Zoundwéogo/Nahouri (southern site) 13 Figure 3. Collection of baobab - Passoré (northern site) 14 Figure 4. Collection of baobab - Zoundwéogo/Nahouri (southern site) 14 Figure 5. Utilization of baobab - Passoré (northern site) 16 Figure 6. Utilization of baobab - Zoundwéogo/Nahouri (southern site) 16 Figure 7. Responsibility for shea collection – northern and southern sites 17 Figure 8. Responsibility for shea processing - Passoré (northern site) 17 Figure 9. Responsibility for shea processing - Zoundwéogo/Nahouri (southern site) 18 Figure 10. Responsibility for néré collection – Passoré (northern site) 21 Figure 11. Responsibility for néré collection – Zoundwéogo/Nahouri (southern site) 21 vi Acknowledgements This report is part of an initiative by the Trade and Markets Division of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to analyse patterns of smallholder market participation. It was prepared by Nigel Poole and Camilla Audia, SOAS (University of London), in collaboration with Bartélémy Kaboret and Tony Hill of TREEAID and Rebecca Kent of Christ Church Canterbury University. Authorship is listed alphabetically. Thanks for assistance in data collection are due to M. Inoussa Savadogo (Passoré), M. Halidou Sawadogo (Zoundwéogo and Nahouri), and M. Yves Basson (Gourma), and to El Mamoun Amrouk and Jamie Morrison who provided guidance and input on the methodological framework, and comments on drafts. 1 Summary This document examines the contrib ution of tree products derived from baobab (Adansonia digitata), shea (Vitellaria paradoxa) and néré (Parkia biglobosa) to smallholder livelihoods where these non- timber forest products form a significant part of the subsistence economies of smallholder households in the Sahelian region. The benefits are access to nutritious foodstuffs particularly during the soudure hunger season and are also commercialised. Besides a literature review, participant observation and key informant interviews, a questionnaire was developed for household level data collection which focused on the processes within the household, including decision-making about selling and consumption of tree products. The fieldwork was conducted in the Northern and Southern parts of Burkina Faso. The questionnaire focused on the following objectives, to: • Understand the decision-making processes within the households • Identify the factors taken into consideration for the selling and or home consumption decisions regarding the chosen tree products • Assess average quantities of tree products collected, consumed at home or sold • Identify the preferred markets for the sale of such products and determine the seller-buyer mechanisms and the ways of accessing those markets • Determine the options for, and uptake of, appropriate technology for processing, storage and transportation of the tree products. The study puts a special emphasis on the role and contribution of women to tree products utilization, particularly through access to markets. It is hoped that the results of this research can help to improve the evidence base underpinning patterns of smallholder participation in tree food markets, and more widely, of livelihood strategies in the region, enabling conclusions and policy recommendations to be drawn to enhance benefits from, and alleviate constraints facing, commercial tree crop activities. 2 Introduction This report examines the contribution of non-timber forest products (NTFPs), an important part of the subsistence economies of smallholder farmers, most notably in the Sahelian region of Sub-Saharan Africa. The research concerned three of the most important NTFPs in Burkina Faso: baobab (Adansonia digitata), shea (Vitellaria paradoxa) and néré (Parkia biglobosa). It investigated the determinants of smallholder market participation choices, and contributes not only to knowledge about the subsistence and commercial use of tree products by rural people, but also supplements the knowledge of household decision making practices. Market access According to Wiggins and Keats (2013), the contribution of rural smallholders to reducing poverty and hunger in low income countries depends on sustainable access to markets. The primary focus of terms such as market participation and economic inclusion is to consider the multiple ways and the extent to which smallholder farmers are able to sell their output to buyers who may be itinerant assemblers and traders, agents for larger scale procurement systems, to traders in markets or direct to consumers. Recognising that many smallholders in developing countries are net purchasers of staple food products, of equal interest is how rural people balance the decisions of whether to sell or consume their produce. Research conducted on the attributes of smallholder farmers and the conditions required to enable smallholders to link with markets (Amrouk et al., 2013) considered that there are three sets of factors which condition smallholder market access. These include: • household and householder characteristics: the level of education and resource endowments, the level of technology, land size and quality, and the stock of other productive assets. They also include household structure, consumption needs, risks faced, which make up the vulnerability context • sectoral factors such as the prevailing physical and institutional infrastructure such as roads, electricity, communications, market, rules of law, which drive price incentives and the decision to invest in technology and generate surpluses • macro policies through their impact on prices and trade incentives. Recognition has recently been given to rural heterogeneity, and provides a warning against a tendency to gloss over inter- and intra-household heterogeneity, that is, the differences between and within households, among men and women, old and young, high and low status (Poole, Chitundu, and Msoni, 2013). The importance of analysing contextual ‘locality’ and ‘particularity’ were highlighted. Summarising (Barrett, 2008 and Arias et al., 2013), smallholder farmers and their contexts differ according to: i. access to, and the productivity of, assets, including natural resources,