Non-Timber Forest Products:

Developing the Wild Bush Mango Market

Irvengia Gabonesis (Bush Mango) is one of more than 15 non-timber forest products that have demonstrated profitability in formalized market places. The rainforest holds a wealth of available food, which has historically been utilized by local farmers, traditional healers and indigenous tribes such as the Baka. GeoAid Cameroon recognizes the necessity of expanding knowledge on such products and applying them in a sustainable manner for those who will be most in need. Therefore, GeoAid Cameroon plans to focus on the wild bush mango found throughout the rain forests of Cameroon and West Africa as an emerging market.

Currently, bush mango markets are informal, distribution systems are not available and supply stocks are scattered. Yet when considered from a business perspective, a formalization of such markets provides direct return to producers and a wonderful reciprocity potential for those collecting and supplying. In formalizing these markets, foragers, growers and suppliers can be educated in domestication, harvest management and product supply, as well as bargaining tactics, price stabilization and information protection.

It is important to note that growers, harvesters, locals and indigenes alike have nothing more than monetary usefulness for the three principal products currently derived from the rainforests in Lomie District, Cameroon. While timber, coffee and coco are creating millions of dollars in revenue, there is practically no value beyond monetary that locals receive. However, non-timber forest products such as the bush mango, cola nut and other medicinal plants provide not only four times more income value, but a wealth of nutrition that could replace and provide more tangible value than coffee, coco or timber combined especially in inconsistent markets. While prices for these products may fluctuate, people can use them for their families until the markets provide a better return.

GeoAid Cameroon is conducting a pilot project to assess local supplies of bush mangoes in Lomie District in 2009. Three groups of Baka foragers will be recruited to develop reliable supplies and assist them in taking their bush mango seeds to market. During the bush mango harvest season from June through October, local and outside seed brokers meet Baka kernel collectors as they return from the forests to trade cigarettes, alcohol and food of the kernels. Recognizing the potential market value of the seeds, it is important to begin securing this potential market for an already marginalized population.