Economic exploitation and CO2-sequestration of a native West African tree – a short-cut out of rural poverty

project summary

The native tree species P. biglobosa is important both economically and for sustaining livelihoods for rural people in the Sahel. In particular, sale of this resource is important to women, due to the limited labour available to them. Sale of the resource entails sale of soumbala, a protein-rich condiment, made of fermented seeds from the tree. However, there is a lack of knowledge on the economic potential of this species, regarding sale of product but also sale of CO2-credits obtained through CO2-sequestration. To assess the scope using P. biglobosa for poverty alleviation, gathering of knowledge on the economic of P. biglobosa, the abundance and management of P. biglobosa, quality assessment of the end-product soumbala, and estimation of CO2-credits obtainable from P. biglobosa plantations, is conducted in this project. Analyses and investigations of these areas of interest will enable assessment of the overall economic potential of P. biglobosa. Research obtained from this project will have innovative and essential value to the Danish development research and most importantly to rural people in Burkina Faso.