Nelly Bassily | February 18, 2013
The exploitation of forest products – especially wood – is often associated with deforestation and environmental problems such as soil erosion and desertification. Efforts to encourage fruit tree planting are going on across Africa. Fruit trees provide an income, and are useful in areas which need reforestation.
Background information on growing fruit trees is available in a handy information sheet provided by the PACE Project, at: http://www.paceproject.net/UserFiles/File/Soils/growing%20fruit%20&%20nut.pdf
There are several thousand species of wild fruit trees in Africa. This audio piece highlights efforts in Cameroon and Kenya to encourage farmers to embrace their cultivation: http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/content/interviews/interview/1298/
Farmers considering growing fruit trees need to know that irrigation is very important. Often, lack of water can have a significant effect on orchard yield. Script package #86 has a story on this subject at: http://www.farmradio.org/radio-resource-packs/package-86/creative-farmers-modify-borehole-to-irrigate-fruit-trees-in-the-dry-season/
Because they are high-value crops, it’s particularly important to protect fruit trees from insect pests. Script package #90 features a script titled Red ants are used to eat other insect predators. It is available at: http://www.farmradio.org/radio-resource-packs/package-90/farmer-uses-red-ants-to-protect-fruit-trees-against-pests/
In this week’s story, Mr. Masuku faces the challenge of getting people to buy his seedlings. But once traditional attitudes or natural hesitations are challenged, farmers may find that new crops greatly boost their incomes. In package #81, there is a script about growing different type of fruit trees: http://www.farmradio.org/radio-resource-packs/package-81/fruit-changes-farmers-lives/
Radio can help change peoples’ attitudes to growing trees. The script below comes from the District of Gulu in northern Uganda, but it should resonate with anyone living in an area of upheaval or insecurity, especially those areas where reliance on fuel wood is high. The script includes background information on how a radio campaign on growing fruit trees was devised. The campaign helped farmers earn better incomes, improve the environment, and enhance their household nutrition. It can be found at: http://www.farmradio.org/radio-resource-packs/package-94-african-farm-radio-research-initiative-afrri/growing-fruit-trees-a-participatory-radio-campaign-in-uganda-helps-farmers-earn-income-improve-the-environment-and-enhance-household-nutrition/
A short article with links to information on a project in Uganda that encourages planting fruit trees can be found here: http://gen-africa.org/node/86