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Baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) and Tamarind (Tamarindus indica L.) Management Strategies in the Midst of Conflict and Change: A Dogon Case Study from Mali

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Abstract

The tree management practices of a Dogon village in Mali, West Africa were investigated to learn how a rural population adapts its strategies to cope with institutional change, climate change, unequal land distribution, and expanding market access. A range of methodologies was used, including semi-structured interviews, seasonal calendars, community mapping and matrices. Special focus was given to baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) and tamarind (Tamarindus indica L.), two highly used and valuable trees within this community. This research reveals that community members have realized that traditional management practices are no longer effective in dealing with the impacts of these transitions, and highlights the fact that management practices, while historically uniform, have begun to diverge in recent years based on unequal land and water endowments within the village. Understanding the rights and abilities of all users to access and protect these species is crucial to their conservation.

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Notes

  1. She had an excellent rapport with the community and a comprehensive knowledge of Tomo kan, the Dogon dialect spoken in the village having lived and worked in Mendolo from April 2005 to December 2007.

  2. Efforts are underway to develop sustainable production systems and domestication strategies of baobab and tamarind in West Africa (DADOBAT 2009; Maranz et al. 2008). The potential domestication of these trees will have social as well as environmental impacts on the long-term survival of the species, rural livelihoods and local management practices.

  3. Due to time constraints, only one matrix was completed with each focus group. The first author chose to conduct historical matrices with men, as they are the primary resource owners in the village, and conflict matrices with women, since they are the primary gatherers of tree products and would be more likely to experience direct conflict over these resources. While these matrix results do not represent the perceptions of all user groups in the village, they do provide an indication of some of the varying viewpoints held by residents about resource abundance and access.

  4. These uses will not be elaborated further as management decisions in Mendolo are based primarily on the dietary uses of baobab and tamarind.

  5. While the Alo Moju Na system of management was abandoned in Mendolo, other villages in the region continue to use the animist system. This is due in large part to the fact that not all villages in the region converted to Islam, or only a minority of people in the village practice Islam. The Alo Moju Na that was interviewed during this research comes from a village that is still strongly animist.

  6. This is equivalent to 1,52 €. The FCFA (Franc Communauté Financière Africaine) is the monetary unit used in Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. The exchange rate is fixed to the Euro (655.957 FCFA = 1€).

  7. The two households that did not rely primarily on farming were the two blacksmithing households in village. While their primary income comes from production of agricultural and domestic tools, they often work in exchange for millet, so their income is still dependant on farming.

  8. The 61-meter-deep well in the valley is dry for 8 months of the year. Residents of this hamlet source their water from a natural spring approximately 2 km away.

  9. While residents from this hamlet were included in the cliff focus group, responses from semi-structured interviews with residents here were analyzed separately to highlight the differences in their management strategies.

  10. The species were: baobab, mango (Mangifera spp.), fan palm (Borassus aethiopum Mart.), guava (Psidium guajava L.), tamarind, African locust bean (Parkia biglobosa (Jacq.) R. Br. Ex G. Don), banana (Musa spp.), papaya (Carica papaya L.), African mahogany (Khaya senegalensis A. Juss), kapok (Bombax costatum Pellegr. and Vuillet), date (Phoenix dactylifera L.) and Gmelina (Gmelina arborea)

  11. The species were: baobab, mango, fan palm, guava, tamarind, African locust bean, eucalyptus (Eucalyptus spp.) and shea (Vitellaria paradoxa C.F. Gaertn.).

  12. A 100 kg rice sack indicates the size of the bag and not the weight of the tamarind within it. These bags are commonly used as a measure of reference when discussing traded goods.

  13. This is equivalent to 457,35 €. The exchange rate is fixed to the Euro (655.957 FCFA = 1€).

  14. Three baskets will fill a 100 kg rice sack.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the villagers of Mendolo and the surrounding community for making this research possible. This research is realized through their generosity and openness, and we hope that the information presented here will benefit them first and foremost. Also in Mali, thanks goes to Kantougoudiou Coulibaly at the Institut d’Economie Rurale in Mopti for research guidance, and to Mike Simsik (Peace Corps Mali) for logistical support. H. Leach gratefully acknowledges the insight and support given by Prof. Patricia Howard (University of Kent at Canterbury, UK) throughout the research process. Research was funded through a grant from University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences (BOKU) in association with the Domestication and Development of Baobab and Tamarind (DADOBAT) project. Many thanks are due as well to the two anonymous reviewers for their insightful input.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Global Diversity Foundation, 209 Lincoln Place #2A, Brooklyn, NY, 11217, USA

    Heather B. Leach

  2. University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Gregor Mendel Straße 33, Wien, Österreich, A-1180, Vienna, Austria

    Christine Van der Stege & Christian R. Vogl

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  1. Heather B. Leach
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  2. Christine Van der Stege
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Correspondence to Heather B. Leach.

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Leach, H.B., Van der Stege, C. & Vogl, C.R. Baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) and Tamarind (Tamarindus indica L.) Management Strategies in the Midst of Conflict and Change: A Dogon Case Study from Mali. Hum Ecol 39, 597–612 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-011-9415-x

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