Lost Crops of Africa Volume II: Vegetables (2006) / Chapter Skim
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11 Locust Bean
11 Locust Bean
Pages 206-221
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From page 207... ...
Locust beans are attractive savanna trees, with dramatically spreading crowns and clusters of globular bright red flowers dangling like holiday decorations on long stalks. And they produce many benefits.
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From page 208... ...
Thanks to dawadawa, locust seed is a major item of commerce across West Africa. However, producing the pungent paste is a traditional family craft and, although some dried beans are sold in local markets, most are collected and processed by individuals for their own use.
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From page 209... ...
Despite all this monetary, nutritional, and environmental importance the species has seldom been accorded systematic silvicultural development, nor has it been promoted in regions outside its native habitat. Given the powerful possibility of increasing food production, rural development, nutritional well-being, and forest cover with one crop, this seems a shameful neglect.
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From page 210... ...
Possibly locust trees will survive under greater rainfall and humidity than they get in their native habitat; it seems not likely that they will become food crops there. Dry Areas Here, locust trees are potential sources for food, edible oil, fodder, lumber, firewood, and green manure.
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From page 211... ...
USES Like so many species in this book, the locust provides a wealth of useful products. Pulp As noted, the colorful pulp within the pod is eaten raw as a sweetmeat, mixed with water and made into a refreshing drink, used as a sweetener in different foods, and fermented into an alcoholic beverage.
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From page 212... ...
Across West Africa locust bean is a major item of commerce, as is its major processed form, dawadawa, a nutrient-dense, cheese-like food. These together constitute an important economic activity for women.
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From page 213... ...
The leaves also are traditionally used, whole branches being lopped for fodder. During the dry season, when other feed supplements are scarce or impossible to find, both the ground-up seeds and the sugary pulp are relied on as pig food in northern Nigeria.
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From page 214... ...
1986. Fatty acid composition of African locust bean (Parkia biglobosa)
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From page 215... ...
It is reported, for example, that in cooked locust seeds the only factors that lower nutritive value are the low levels of methionine and tryptophan. This was deduced from the fact that diets supplemented with those amino acids increased the growth of rats to almost that obtained with whole egg.
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From page 216... ...
Locust would appear to be a superb multipurpose agroforestry species. Many areas have lost much of their tree cover, and farmers have begun to reestablish specific beneficial species, including locust.
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From page 217... ...
Small cooperatively managed plantations, especially those owned and managed by women, might be a real boost in some places. On the other hand, investment in larger-scale plantations by business people and civil servants from the city might destroy entirely the cottage industry based around the production and sale of dawadawa, which comprises a significant portion of women's, albeit meager, incomes across the region.
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From page 218... ...
processing might provide more consistent flavor, improve shelf life, and help maintain its overall popularity. Also, processing methods that reduce the smell might be developed, so dawadawa can better compete with soybean substitutes and bouillon cubes in the commercial markets.
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From page 219... ...
Common Names Bambara: néré English: African locust bean, French: arbre a farine, arbre a fauve Nigeria: nitta, nete, nere, dawa-dawa, dawadawa, dadawa, ogiri okpi (Igbo) Fulani: narghi Gambia: monkey cutlass, netetou Sierra Leone: kinds Sudan: dours Chad Arabic: maito Kanouri: runo Djerma: dosso More: rouaga Description African locust trees are large in size: typically over 18 m high and 1.5 m in trunk diameter.
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From page 220... ...
Low Temperature Freezing weather is foreign to its native habitat, but the plant is certainly frost sensitive. High Temperature Locust trees thrive in semiarid tropical climates with an average daily maximum above 33.5 °C.
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From page 221... ...
These further members of the genus Parkia are worthy of much more extensive planting, with progressive breeding and selections of improved strains. Several institutions in various parts of Asia and the Americas have begun showing an interest in developing them for forestry and farms.
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