PROJECT PROPOSAL

Development of marketing strategy of high-value indigenous fruit trees and medicinal plants from the Congo Basin

Submitted by: World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) Zac Tchoundjeu

Submitted to: University of California Berkeley

Project period: January to December 2004

Total budget: US$ 11,250

Budget requested from SGI: US$ 10,000

Budget from ICRAF: US$1,250

Problem Statement/Justification

Western and Central Africa is one of the most diverse regions of the world. This diversity is reflected in geographical features, cultural make-up, climatic regimes and biological complexity. Humid forests sit next to dry savannahs, pastoralists interact with forest dwellers and local markets flourish with product choice. Prominent amongst this choice is indigenous tree products reflecting local people’s high appreciation and use of various fruits, medicines and wood products in this region. Sadly - poverty, resource access conflicts and landscape degradation are the other characteristics completing the region’s description. Table 1 shows the seriousness of the poor status of a number of development indicators as well as the importance of agriculture for four countries where ICRAF and partners have an interest in developing projects concerning cultivation and marketing of indigenous trees.

Table 1: Development indicators for four Western and Central African countries.

Country	Popn (millions)	Rural Population (%)	GNP in PPP (1998) World rank	Arable land (ha per capita) 1994-96	Agric as % of GDP (1998)
Cameroon	14.9	51	158	0.45	56
Democratic Rep Congo	50.9	70	200	0.16	58
Equatorial Guinea	0.5	52	-	-	-
Nigeria	113.9	56	199	0.27	43

Apart from the high local appreciation for tree products, the region is also a significant producer of export tree crops. With the exception of oil palm, however, the major export tree crops of the region are all exotic and are identified as citrus, cocoa, coffee, rubber and tea. Whilst much of the hectareage is under large-scale plantations these crops also contribute significantly to incomes for small-scale producers (Oduor and Simons, 2002). Western and Central Africa faces tough competition in international markets for these commodities and unfortunately for small-scale producers the returns to land are declining as seen in Table 2 where data is presented for cocoa and coffee (derived from FAO, 2002). There remains, however, the opportunity for improved tree crop industries to develop around indigenous tree crops as countries of the region have a comparative advantage with the raw materials in terms of germplasm as well as a head start in terms of production and markets.

Small-scale farmers in Western and Central Africa face declining returns for traditional, exotic tree crops as well as dwindling availability of indigenous tree products. Given improved planting materials and market information this presents significant opportunities to cultivate and better commercialise indigenous trees and their products. Developing new and improved planting materials is a long-term venture although recent studies by Alston and Pardey (2001) show that from a review of rates of return to research that across 108 projects that tree crops revealed an average real, marginal, ex post rate of return on research per year of 87.6%.

Table 2: Gross returns in US$ per hectare for exported tree crops

	Cocoa		Coffee
	1990^a	2000	1990	2000
Cameroon	710	502	606	238
Democratic Rep Congo	539	377	591	231
Equatorial Guinea	182	164	436	none exported
Nigeria	510	529	600	none exported

^a – adjusted to 2000 values using 5% discount rate

In Western and Central Africa, there is increased awareness of the interdependence between forests and agriculture and the role of trees on farms in meeting tree needs and stabilizing land productivity and diversification of source of income. As such agriculture and forestry are not mutually exclusive land use activities, and thus there is no discrete interface between agricultural fields and forests but rather a blurred edge at which poverty commonly abounds. Poverty in simplest terms restricts choice and options for development often leading to unsustainable management of natural resources. One area where this is glaringly apparent is with trees that provide much desired tree products, especially fruits and medicines. Over-harvesting from wild trees in humid forests, sub-humid savannahs and semi-arid areas has threatened incomes, within species variation and landscape integrity. Studies in Africa have shown that trees can contribute substantially to household budgets but this is not universal (e.g. Arshod, 1999). Farmers routinely cite lack of access to improved tree germplasm and relevant knowledge as the constraints to addressing this situation.

Regarding medicinal plants, it is well known across Africa that more than 60% of medicinal plants are extracted from the forest. The situation is not different in the Congo Basin as 75-80% of the population relies on medicinal plants to meet their health care requirements. As the population grows, demand for traditional medicines will increase and pressure on natural resources will become greater than ever. Medical records from the Ministry of Health in Cameroon clearly indicated that malaria, typhoid and yellow fever (jaundice), sexual transmitted diseases (STDs), tuberculosis and stomach problems (diarrhea, dysentery, amoeba) were the most recurring cause of morbidity amongst the population. The situation is unlikely to be different in other countries of the region. It becomes urgent to domesticate the important medicinal plants in order to facilitate their cultivation by the resource poor farmers, as their continued extraction from natural ecosystems is unsustainable.

ICRAF and its national partners have been active in West Africa since 1995 in undertaking research on regionally important tree species. Initially this work focused on species prioritization, research inventory and problem diagnosis. For more information on ICRAF visit our website: http://www.worldagroforestrycentre.org. Since 1999, an IFAD-supported consortium of partners and donors has more intensively undertaken investigations into genetic variation, cultivation, production, consumption, profitability and marketing of a range of trees providing fruit and medicinal products. Cultivar development, farmer participation and partner training have all been largely successful on a small-scale and predominantly in humid areas. There remains within the region the great need to develop marketing strategy, market analysis for tree product and make information and methods more widely available to scientists and partners involved in tree domestication process. By so doing, marketable timber and non-timber forest products from farm, will enhance rural livelihoods by generating cash for resource-poor rural and peri-urban households. The proposed project seeks to capitalize on past investments by: (a) working on a wider scale within existing project areas; (b) developing marketing strategy and processing information of high-value fruit trees to a broader audience; (c) extending the methods and approaches to other countries of the region.

Project Activities

Develop strategic marketing of high-value indigenous fruit trees

Developing an efficient strategy for marketing of indigenous fruit trees is a prerequisite for the success of this project which the ultimate aim is to reduce poverty at rural area by large cultivation and commercialisation of species with high market potential at local, regional and international levels. The following steps may be followed during the process:

- Reviewing the existing data and information, which are necessary to support the planning. The data and information are those related to socio economic, resources area, market, supply chain, etc.

- Pre-Planning to identify and determine the needs in planning workshop preparation

- Planning workshop

- Review the existing marketing activities developed by ICRAF and partners

- Develop strategies for improving market access (national, regional and international). A fundamental element of this concern is to develop a market-oriented research, which will improve market access for producers, traders and processors

- Elaborate certification framework for main Non Timber Forest Products

- Elaborate a product development framework for main species

- Identify the needs for further survey and research

- Elaborate the current research & survey results.

- Process review and Evaluation

ICRAF and partners will be actively involved, particularly in step of planning workshop and process review and evaluation. The planning workshop will be held in ICRAF office with the participation of NGOs, Farmers groups, Scientists from CIFOR and other partners involved in tree domestication process.

Collaboration Statement

ICRAF will collaborate with the International Business Development Program, at the Haas School of Business, University of California at Berkeley. The programme was started 13 years ago. Each year the programme assigns teams of student consultants to clients with projects throughout the world. The students already have an average of 5-6 years of work experience beyond their undergraduate degrees. They have backgrounds in engineering, finance, marketing, sales, etc. Their clients range from large multinational companies to one or two person ventures. They have worked with Ford, Citibank, Bechtel, Lucent, Hewlett-Packard and dozens of other readily recognized companies. They have worked in many countries on most continents on various kinds of projects such as feasibility studies, market development strategies, business plan writing, etc. In total they have worked for more than 60 clients in approximately 40 different countries

Therefore, we believe that the collaboration with the International Business Development Program, at the Haas School of Business, University of California at Berkeley, will fill gaps in expertise.

Further details about this program can be found at:

http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/groups/HaasGlobal/IBDindex.htm

Also, the Director of the Program, Sebastian Teunissen, can be contacted at teunisse@haas.berkeley.edu for additional information. He will be providing a letter of support from his center, The Clausen Center for International Business & Policy, indicating their intention to collaborate with our programme.

Connection with the Summer Course of BELP

There are several relevant learning/skills from the summer course with the idea of the proposed project. Below are the relevant learning points

3^rdday, payment for ecosystem services, Environmental policy group exercises

13^th day, Special Agriculture and the environment : Bridging the Divide, special Guests: Norman Borlaug and Chris Dowswell. This lecture was followed by a public lecture giving by Dr Norman Borlaug on 60 years fighting hunger.

17^th to 20^th days, Community And Natural Resources Management & Trip to Sacramento Valley and Cache Creek Nature Conservancy Restoration site.

Expected Result and Outputs

- An Improved Business Plan taking into consideration resource-poor farmers

- A logistical and supply chain management plan

- Development of a strategic marketing plan for the high-value fruit trees of the region.

- Elaborate certification framework for main Non Timber Forest Products

Beside those results & outputs, this project will help to develop the manual of strategic business plan and business plan writing for the NGOs and small-scale entrepreneurs.

Timeline and Duration

What	Where	When
Reviewing the existing data and information, which are necessary to support the planning. The data and information are the one related to socio economic, resources area, market, supply chain, and work so far done etc	Yaounde & Berkeley by e-mail, fax & telephone	Feb-May 2004
Planning to identify and determine the needs in planning workshop	Yaounde	May 2004
Hold workshop with IDB team from Berkeley (business strategic plan, logistic and supply management plan & organisation development)	Yaounde	June 2004
Review the existing Business Plan of ICRAF	Yaounde	June 2004
Identify the needs for further survey and research	Yaounde	July 2004
Conduct necessary survey/research
Business Plan Re-Writing	Yaounde	August 2004
Process review, evaluation and follow-up planning with Berkeley team (back home)	Yaounde & Berkeley	September 2004
Finishing the business plan writing	Yaounde & Berkeley	September 2004
Report writing	Yaounde	December 204

Budget Confidential

*The Berkeley team visiting Cameroon will be composed of four persons

** A total of 10 persons are expected at the planning workshop

*** Berkeley team will have a 20-day field visit/two persons per room.

**** A workshop will last only two days.