IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/forpol/v84y2017icp29-37.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Challenges to governing sustainable forest food: Irvingia spp. from southern Cameroon

Author

Listed:
  • Ingram, Verina
  • Ewane, Marcus
  • Ndumbe, Louis Njie
  • Awono, Abdon

Abstract

Across the Congo Basin, bush mango (Irvingia spp.) nuts have been harvested from forest landscapes for consumption, sold as a foodstuff and for medicine for centuries. Data on this trade however are sparse. A value chain approach was used to gather information on stakeholders in the chain from the harvesters in three major production areas in Cameroon to traders in Cameroon, Nigeria, and Equatorial Guinea, the socio-economic values, environmental sustainability and governance. Around 5190 people work in the complex chain in Cameroon with an estimated 4109tons harvested on average annually in the period 2007 to 2010. Bush mango incomes contribute on average to 31% of harvester's annual incomes and dependence increases for those further from the forest. Customary rules govern access to resources. Although regulations exist, most trade is illegal, with corruption and collective action governing access to markets. The majority of nuts harvested are sustainably collected. Although 51% of the harvest is sourced from the forest, trees are also managed on cultivated land. Forest degradation and deforestation threaten the species. Policy measures such as linking stakeholders, promoting cultivation, pragmatic regulation, and supporting processer groups may make trade in this forest food more sustainable.

Suggested Citation

  • Ingram, Verina & Ewane, Marcus & Ndumbe, Louis Njie & Awono, Abdon, 2017. "Challenges to governing sustainable forest food: Irvingia spp. from southern Cameroon," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 29-37.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:forpol:v:84:y:2017:i:c:p:29-37
    DOI: 10.1016/j.forpol.2016.12.014
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1389934116304798
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.forpol.2016.12.014?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Lindberg, Klara & Martvall, Amanda & Bastos Lima, Mairon G. & Franca, Caroline S.S., 2023. "Herbal medicine promotion for a restorative bioeconomy in tropical forests: A reality check on the Brazilian Amazon," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    2. Rasmussen, Laura Vang & Watkins, Cristy & Agrawal, Arun, 2017. "Forest contributions to livelihoods in changing agriculture-forest landscapes," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 1-8.
    3. Henry N. N. Bulley & Oludunsin T. Arodudu & Esther A. Obonyo & Aniko Polo-Akpisso & Esther Shupel Ibrahim & Yazidhi Bamutaze, 2023. "Perspectives on Applications of Geospatial Technology and Landscape Ecology for Conservation Planning in the Global South," International Journal of Applied Geospatial Research (IJAGR), IGI Global, vol. 14(1), pages 1-23, January.
    4. Roger R. B. Leakey & Marie-Louise Tientcheu Avana & Nyong Princely Awazi & Achille E. Assogbadjo & Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi & Prasad S. Hendre & Ann Degrande & Sithabile Hlahla & Leonard Manda, 2022. "The Future of Food: Domestication and Commercialization of Indigenous Food Crops in Africa over the Third Decade (2012–2021)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-75, February.
    5. Ahammad, Ronju & Stacey, Natasha & Sunderland, Terry C.H., 2019. "Use and perceived importance of forest ecosystem services in rural livelihoods of Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 87-98.
    6. Harbi, Jun & Erbaugh, James Thomas & Sidiq, Mohammad & Haasler, Berthold & Nurrochmat, Dodik Ridho, 2018. "Making a bridge between livelihoods and forest conservation: Lessons from non timber forest products' utilization in South Sumatera, Indonesia," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 1-10.
    7. Stryamets, Nataliya & Elbakidze, Marine & Chamberlain, James & Angelstam, Per, 2020. "Governance of non-wood forest products in Russia and Ukraine: Institutional rules, stakeholder arrangements, and decision-making processes," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    8. Cooper, Matthew & Zvoleff, Alex & Gonzalez-Roglich, Mariano & Tusiime, Felly & Musumba, Mark & Noon, Monica & Alele, Peter & Nyiratuza, Madeleine, 2018. "Geographic factors predict wild food and nonfood NTFP collection by households across four African countries," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 38-53.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:forpol:v:84:y:2017:i:c:p:29-37. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/forpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.