INTERGRATED DOMESTICATION STRATEGIES FOR ALLANBLACKIA – THE GHANAIAN EXPERIENCE SII TRAINING WORKSHOP ON ALLANBLACKIA DOMESTICATION OCTOBER 2006 ICRAF, NAIROBI, KENYA By D. A. Ofori FORIG/ICRAF FORIG, UST Box 63, Kumasi, Ghana.

Introduction Domestication of Allanblackia Management of trees to increase their benefits to mankind

Main components of AB domestication Sensitization and encouragement of farmers to participate in AB domestication Range-wide germplasm collection, development of propagation methods and gene conservation Ecology, abundance and sustainable harvesting Integration of AB in farming systems and Agroforestry development Facilitate development of marketing networks and supply chain Contribute to poverty alleviation in the rural areas

Partnerships Bring together stakeholders that have different interests and organisational capacities Partners are to develop effective policy frameworks to support and address the ‘main components listed’ through involvement of all stakeholders with special emphasis on small scale farmers

Who are involved in AB domestication in Ghana? UNILIVER Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG) ICRAF International Tree seed Centre (ITSC) Twifo Oil Palm Plantation (TOPP) SNV IUCN FARMERS Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG) Others

Farmers Allanblackia domestication is being executed as farmer-driven and market-led process

Farmers’ perspectives Farmers will be willing to plant Allanblackia provided there will be; –Ready market –Attractive price comparable to cocoa and cola. –Early bearing varieties –Methods of propagation known

ICRAF/ FORIG Development of propagation techniques Establishment of gene banks Development of agroforestry systems

FORIG’s research nursery FORIG/ICRAF Range-wide collections, development of propagation methods and ex-situ gene conservation

ITSC and TOPP Involved in propagation Production of seedlings Distribution to planting sites

ITSC nursery, Offinso, 600,000 seeds

IUCN Best practices for biodiversity conservation Biological and social baselines Sustainable wild harvesting Incorporation of AB into farming systems Community education and sensitization

FORIG/IUCN Ecological studies to establish the abundance and a baseline for sustainable harvesting Establish data base on the phenology (flowering and fruiting)

SNV Develop investment opportunity to create additional income at producer level Market chain development Facilitation of stakeholder collaboration e.g farmer groups

UNILIVER Novella Project Manager Coordinate the AB domestication programme in Ghana Facilitate development of marketing networks and supply chain

CRIG Now getting involved with cocoa agroforestry with Allanblackia sp.

Difficulties in management Lack of proper coordination among partners Difficulty to come out with national workplan or sound action plan for the AB project Farmers skepticism on sustainability of AB project Realistic funding mechanisms

Lessons learnt It is important to improve our understanding of how partnerships work, and how they can be made to lead to more effective, efficient, equitable and legitimate outcomes Development of good partnerships and sharing of resources, will move AB domestication ahead

National strategy for AB domestication There should be greater coordination among AB stakeholders Mechanism for sharing resources Mechanism for information sharing Organization of farmer groups to participate in the Allanblackia domestication programme

National strategy for AB domestication Training workshops on AB domestication Get Cocoa Research Institutes actively involved for cocoa-AB agroforestry development

Govt agencies NGO’s Private sectors Farmers Pull strings together for Greater success Concluding remarks AB project

Thank you for your attention