May 26, 2009
Op-Ed Contributor
What Will Happen When the Baobab Goes Global?
By DAWN STARIN

IT’s known as the baobab in English, sito in Mandinka, gwi in Wolof
and Adansonia digitata in botanical circles. Sometimes it’s called the
upside-down tree, because its weirdly shaped branches resemble roots.
It was made famous in the West by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s fable
“The Little Prince.”

In Africa, the baobab tree is steeped in mystique and surrounded by
superstition. Many people believe that its spirit protects the
community around it, and its tangible properties certainly nourish
those who live near it. Parts of the tree are used to make rope and
fishing line; to feed goats, sheep and cows; and to provide shelter,
food and medicine.

While living in Gambia I saw parts of the baobab used to treat
everything from malarial fever, infertility and asthma to headaches
and toothaches. I have no idea if and how these local remedies worked,
but all of a sudden the rest of the world — Western health food
companies included — is catching on. There’s a growing belief that the
baobab may be the world’s newest super food.

The tree’s white, powdery fruit is rich in antioxidants, potassium and
phosphorus, and has six times as much vitamin C as oranges and twice
as much calcium as milk. The leaves are an excellent source of iron,
potassium, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum and phosphorus, and the
seeds are packed with protein.

The baobab was approved for European markets last year, and the Food
and Drug Administration is expected to follow suit soon. The fruit’s
dry pulp will be sold as an ingredient in smoothies and cereal bars.
Already, a small jar of African baobab jam made in England sells for
around $11. According to the Natural Resources Institute in Britain,
an international baobab industry could bring in about $1 billion a
year and provide jobs for 2.5 million African families. On paper this
sounds great, but there’s another side to the picture.

The baobab has never been a plantation tree; it grows wild in arid
regions. (It can also be found in Australia, but it thrives in few
other places outside Africa.) Presently people harvest only what they
need and maybe a bit more to sell at local markets. If it becomes an
international commodity, the baobab probably would need to be planted
as a crop, even though arable soil is limited. The open land where
local people now freely harvest wild baobab could be developed by
agribusinesses into plantations, or else precious forests or farmland
used to grow everyday staple crops could be turned over to the baobab
export industry.

Although local people would probably find jobs on such farms, their
ability to harvest or purchase the baobab themselves would be limited.
They wouldn’t be able to pay as much as London dealers could. This
means that some Africans could lose a source of household wealth, an
important part of their diet and an essential pharmaceutical resource.

These possibilities — not to mention the threat of corruption, poor
wages and genetic modification leading to a loss of the tree’s
biodiversity — are not random predictions. Africa is no stranger to
the overexploitation of its natural resources. But the solution isn’t
necessarily to cut the baobab off from international markets.
Regulations could be put in place to protect the tree, its environment
and the people who depend on it — and still allow for profitable
production.

The coffee trade provides a model. It’s clear that many consumers are
willing to pay more for fairly traded coffee — which costs enough to
provide the growers a decent wage for their labor. This bottom-up
pricing should be applied to the baobab market, even if it means
European health nuts have to pay a lot for their smoothies.

The baobab’s new popularity is exciting, but the European Union, the
United States and African exporters should decide on regulations
before the baobab is rushed to European and North American markets.

In Saint-Exupéry’s story, the planet the Little Prince lives on is too
small to support the baobab. This is hardly our situation, but the
Little Prince still has some useful advice for us: Taking care of your
planet, he says, “is very tedious work, but very easy.”

Dawn Starin is an anthropologist.

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