AFRICAN INDIGENOUS AND TRADITIONAL VEGETABLES IN TANZANIA: PRODUCTION, POST-HARVEST MANAGEMENT AND MARKETING

Indigenous and traditional African vegetables (AITVs) are important sources of nutrition for sub-Saharan Africans (SSA), especially the low-income and food insecure. The U.S. Agency for International Development directed Horticulture Collaborative Research Support Program, now named the Horticulture Innovation Lab, builds international partnerships for fruit and vegetable research to improve livelihoods in developing countries. For this Programme a study was carried out to provide baseline information on AITVs in Tanzania and to determine research needs. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted in four regions of Tanzania with a total of 160 sellers and producers of AITVs, with attention to post-harvest management. Key concerns were demographics, i.e. who is growing, transporting, and selling AITVs, AITV identities and quantities, production, harvest, transport, wholesale and retail patterns, processing, and surplus. Common AITVs are greens of amaranths, nightshade, cowpea, cucurbits, Ipomea , cassava tree, spider flower and Ethiopian mustard; plus African eggplant and okra fruits. Ninety six percent of sellers and 71% of producers were female. Most AITVs are sold in roofed open markets, secondarily on streets by mobile or semi-mobile sellers. Amaranth was the number one seller for 83% of sellers. Issues covered were: (i) cultural practices, AITV plot size, seed sources, irrigation and pesticide use; (ii) post-harvest: harvest to market storage and transport times and modes, grading, packaging and bundling, and washing; and (iii) marketing: retail markup, price variation by season, year and region, average daily sales; cell phone use, retail space size and cost, retailer storage, remainders, processing and less common AITVs. OLS regression was done to elucidate factors affecting sales volume and regional differences. Post-harvest losses of AITVs do not appear to be significant as the value chain participants demonstrate an acute knowledge of consumer demand and daily market dynamics.Les l\ue9gumes indig\ue8nes et traditionnelles africaines (AITVs) constituent une source importante de nutrition pour l\u2019Afrique sub-saharienne, sp\ue9cialement \ue0 bas revenus et \ue0 ins\ue9curit\ue9 alimentaire. Le programme de soutien \ue0 la recherche collaborative de l\u2019agence internationale am\ue9ricaine pour le d\ue9veloppement, aussi appel\ue9 \u2018Horticulture Innovation Lab\u2019 institue des partenariats internationaux pour la recherche sur les fruits et les l\ue9gumes pour am\ue9liorer les conditions de vie dans les pays en voie de d\ue9veloppement. Une \ue9tude \ue9tait conduite afin d\u2019\ue9tablir une information de base sur AITVs en Tanzanie et d\ue9terminer les besoins en recherche. Une enqu\ueate \ue9tait conduite dans quatre r\ue9gions de la Tanzanie avec un total de 160 vendeurs et producteurs de AITVs, avec attention \ue0 la gestion post-r\ue9colte. La question la plus importante concernait la d\ue9mographie, par exemple, qui cro\ueet, transporte et vend AITV, identit\ue9s et quantit\ue9s de l\u2019AITV, production, r\ue9colte, transport, grossistes et d\ue9taillants, transformation et surplus. Les AITVs usuels sont des amarantes, morelles, pois cajan, cucurbites, Ipomea , manioc, cl\ue9ome et moutarde \ue9thiopienne. A ceci s\u2019ajoute les aubergines africaines et les fruits d\u2019Okra. Quatre vingt seize pour cent des vendeurs et 71% des producteurs \ue9taient des femmes. La plupart d\u2019AITVs sont vendus dans des march\ue9s t\uf4l\ue9s ouverts sur les rues par des vendeurs mobiles ou semi-mobiles. Les amarantes \ue9taient les plus vendues (83%). Les probl\ue8mes rencontr\ue9s \ue9taient: (i) pratiques culturales, la taille des parcelles sous AITV, sources des semences, utilisation des pesticides et de l\u2019irrigation; (ii) post-r\ue9colte: de la r\ue9colte au magasin du march\ue9 et temps et mode de transport, cat\ue9gorisation, emballage et empaquetage, et le lavage, et (iii) promotion sur le march\ue9: fixation des prix des d\ue9tails, variation des prix par saison, ann\ue9e et r\ue9gion, ventes moyennes journali\ue8res, utilisation des t\ue9l\ue9phone cellulaires, la taille et le co\ufbt de l\u2019espace pour vente des produits, le magasin des petits vendeurs, les produits restants apr\ue8s vente, la transformation et les AITVs les moins communs. La r\ue9gression d\u2019OLS \ue9tait faite apr\ue8s vente pour \ue9lucider les facteurs qui affectent le volume des ventes et les diff\ue9rences r\ue9gionales. Des pertes post-r\ue9coltes d\u2019AITVs ne paraissent pas \ueatre significatives \ue9tant donn\ue9 que les participants dans la chaine des valeurs font montre d\u2019une connaissance suffisante sur la demande du consommateur et les dynamiques quotidiennes du march\ue9

The need to breed crop varieties suitable for organic farming, using wheat, tomato and broccoli as examples: A review

It is estimated that more than 95% of organic production is based on crop varieties that were bred for the conventional high-input sector. Recent studies have shown that such varieties lack important traits required under organic and low-input production conditions. This is primarily due to selection in conventional breeding programmes being carried out in the background of high inorganic fertilizer and crop protection inputs. Also, some of the traits (e.g., semi-dwarf genes) that were introduced to address problems like lodging in cereals in high-input systems were shown to have negative side-effects (reduced resistance to diseases such as Septoria, lower protein content and poorer nutrient-use efficiency) on the performance of varieties under organic and low-input agronomic conditions. This review paper, using wheat, tomato and broccoli as examples, describes (1) the main traits required under low-input conditions, (2) current breeding programmes for organic, low-input agriculture, (3) currently available breeding and/or selection approaches, and (4) the benefits and potential negative side-effects of different breeding methodologies and their relative acceptability under organic farming principles. © 2010 Royal Netherlands Society for Agricultural Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved