Ethnobotany, value chain and conservation strategies for the African breadfruit (Treculia africana Decne ex Trécul) in Kavuzi Extension Planning Area in northern Malawi

In the lush, tropical landscapes of sub-Saharan Africa, a quiet crisis of hunger and malnutrition persists, driven not just by a lack of food, but by a lack of diverse, nutrient-rich options. For decades, scientists and development workers have looked beyond the standard crops like maize and cassava to find solutions in the wild. They focus on indigenous edible fruit trees—native species that have fed local communities for generations but are often overlooked by modern agriculture. These trees are considered "neglected and underutilized," meaning they hold immense potential to fight poverty and improve health, yet they remain largely ignored in research and markets. The core idea is simple: if communities can be helped to better understand, harvest, and process these native trees, they could become powerful tools for food security. However, for this to work, researchers must first understand how local people actually view these trees, how they use them, and what barriers stop them from becoming a reliable part of daily life.

In the Kavuzi Extension Planning Area of northern Malawi, a team of researchers set out to explore one such tree: the African breadfruit. Known locally as Treculia africana, this massive tree can grow up to thirty meters tall and produces enormous fruits, each weighing between six and twenty-five kilograms. Inside these fruits lie seeds that are packed with protein, carbohydrates, and essential minerals like iron and calcium. Despite this nutritional powerhouse status, the tree has been largely forgotten in this specific region. The researchers, led by Peter Simon Nyanda and colleagues from Mzuzu University, wanted to uncover the story of the African breadfruit in Kavuzi. They asked a simple but vital question: Do the people living here know this tree, do they use it, and if they do, why isn't it a bigger part of their lives? To find out, they walked through the villages, speaking with nearly three hundred local farming households and holding group discussions to gather stories, observations, and hard facts about the tree's current state.

The team found that the African breadfruit is well-known in the community, with nearly everyone recognizing it by its local names, such as Njaya. The tree is primarily found growing along riverbanks and streams, where the soil is moist and rich. For the people of Kavuzi, the tree is a source of tasty, roasted seeds that are eaten as a snack, particularly during the rainy season from November to March. This timing is crucial because it coincides with the "lean season," a period when staple crops are still growing in the fields and food supplies are often low. The seeds are a valuable source of plant protein when other food is scarce. Beyond food, the tree serves other purposes; a small number of people use parts of it for medicine to treat ailments ranging from abdominal pain to complications during childbirth, and some use the wood for firewood. However, the researchers discovered that the tree's role in daily life is shrinking. While everyone knows the tree, its use is becoming less common, limited mostly to occasional household consumption rather than a staple food source.

The primary reason for this decline is the sheer difficulty of processing the seeds. The process is labor-intensive and physically demanding. To get to the edible nut, a person must first collect the heavy fruit from the ground or climb the tall tree to cut down branches. Once the fruit is harvested, the outer pulp must be removed, the seeds washed, and then roasted in a hot pan. After roasting, the hard shells must be cracked and removed by hand to reveal the nut inside. This entire process takes a significant amount of time and effort, which discourages many from relying on it regularly. The researchers found that this heavy workload is the main barrier preventing the tree from being used more widely. Furthermore, there is no organized market for the seeds. Unlike in other parts of Africa where communities sell breadfruit products, in Kavuzi, the seeds are never sold. They are harvested in small quantities strictly for the family, meaning the tree generates no income and has no economic value in the local economy.

The study also revealed a worrying trend in the tree's population. The community is acutely aware that the African breadfruit is becoming scarce. More than half of the people interviewed reported that the tree is now rarely found, and many noted a steady decline over the last decade. The main drivers of this loss are deforestation, as people cut down trees to clear land for farming, and the impacts of climate change. The tree is not being cultivated; it grows only in the wild, and when the forest is cleared or the riverbanks are disturbed, the tree disappears. There are no specific conservation efforts targeting this species, and it receives no special management. Despite these challenges, the community holds a surprisingly positive view of the tree's potential. When asked, most people agreed that if the barriers were removed, the African breadfruit could significantly improve household food security, generate income, and create jobs. They see it as a resource that could help alleviate poverty and support the local economy, provided the difficult processing steps could be made easier.

The researchers concluded that the African breadfruit in Kavuzi is a classic example of a neglected resource with high potential. It is a tree that the community knows and trusts, but one that is currently underutilized due to the hard work required to process it and the lack of a market to sell it. The study suggests that the path forward lies in addressing these specific bottlenecks. By developing simple, small-scale technologies to make the processing of the seeds less laborious, and by creating awareness of the tree's nutritional and economic value, the community could begin to integrate this tree back into their food systems. The authors emphasize that without such interventions, the tree will likely continue to disappear, taking with it a valuable source of nutrition and a potential engine for rural development. The future of the African breadfruit in Malawi depends on turning local knowledge into practical action, transforming a laborious chore into a sustainable livelihood.