**4. The social and economic importance of marula**

As a low-middle-income country with a per-capita Gross Domestic Product of only US\$ 5940 per annum (2014 estimates), the poverty rate in Swaziland is estimated at 69% and a large proportion of people live on an income below US\$2 per day [40, 48, 57, 73].From time immemorial, people in Swaziland have harvested marula fruits and seeds for livelihoods in the form of food and for producing a traditional brew (*Buganu*). The brew is largely consumed during traditional festivals or sold to local customers to generate an income [34, 36, 49]. The people of Swaziland have used the marula kernels in relishes, eating the fresh fruits and seeds, using the bark for relieving stomach aches and also for spiritual reasons [64]. Marula products also feature in traditional ceremonies, such as the *Buganu* ceremony, celebrated annually where people gather with their King (The *Ingwenyama*) and Queen Mother (The *Indlovukazi*) to celebrate [34, 36, 49]. This ceremony normally marks the start of the *Buganu* season whereby, after the ceremony, every Swazi is free to drink the *buganu* brew [26, 63]. Recognizing its social, cultural and economic values, the Queen Mother in 2004 established two commercial processing plants (Swazi Secrets and Swaziland Marula) as initiatives to economically empower rural women through enterprising on marula harvesting and processing. In Swaziland, marula is traditionally harvested almost exclusively by women who pick up the fruits from the ground when ripe. The UNDP [70] has observed that the Swazi Secrets project alone is supporting 2400 rural women who earn a living through selling seed kernels from marula trees.

worm (*Imbrasia belina*) and the African moon moth (*Argema mimosa)* are used as food by many tribes in southern Africa [16, 21, 42, 55, 76]. The Swazis and Zulus also traditionally use the tough silk pupa cases of the moon moth for anklet rattles used in tribal dances such as the annual reed dance and *Buganu* ceremonies practiced in Swaziland. The barks of the marula trees are used by elephants and rhinoceros. The marula fruits, which are rich in vitamin C, are also eaten by animals, such as elephants, warthogs, porcupine, monkeys, baboons, millipedes, domestic cattle and goats and, thus, creating an intricate ecological linkage between

The water-filled holes in the trunks of marula trees are very important breeding grounds for mosquitoes and other animals such as amphibians. These interrelationships such as the overbrowsing by animals can destabilize the population structure of marula trees as it affects the growth of marula seedlings and, thus, impacts on its successful regeneration and recruitment potential [19, 27, 55]. Marula seedlings are also susceptible to fire which also impact on its

The study was conducted in the Lubombo region of the Kingdom of Swaziland—a small

qualitative research approaches to data collection and data analysis were employed. Two populations were targeted for the study, that is, the people of the Lubombo region and key informants from relevant stakeholder organizations. The quantitative research design was explanatory and descriptive in nature and was grounded in a cross-sectional socio-economic survey. The researchers selected respondents from all four chiefdoms of the Mpolonjeni constituency. A multistage probability sampling procedure was used to systematically select 411 households (based on a 95% confidence level and 5% confidence interval) from the population of 14,716 and then randomly select one adult individual from each of the selected households (or and oldest child in the case of child-headed households) [2, 53]. A structured filter questionnaire was used to collect data among the 411 household members. The questionnaire was pilot-tested at Ngculwini *Inkhundla,* which was not included in the study area. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the quantitative data. [39] the qualitative approach, on the other hand, entailed a purposive sampling method to select 20 key informants, while an in-depth interview schedule was used for data collection purposes. Data from the in-depth interviews were recorded verbatim after which the contents were tran-

In order to contextualize the findings of the study, we first need to reflect on the important

As a low-middle-income country with a per-capita Gross Domestic Product of only US\$ 5940 per annum (2014 estimates), the poverty rate in Swaziland is estimated at 69% and a large

role of marula in Swaziland, particularly from a social and economic perspective.

[77]. Both quantitative and

the marula trees and other animal species [21, 27, 55].

country in southern Africa which covers an area of 17,363 km2

scribed and triangulated with the questionnaire findings [68].

**4. The social and economic importance of marula**

regeneration potential [23, 25].

**3. Methodology**

306 Selected Studies in Biodiversity

The establishment of commercial processing plants for marula is an initiative to augment the battle for economic growth and poverty alleviation in Swaziland. The challenges for economic growth in Swaziland have been compounded by the global economic meltdown that started in 2008, the reduction in Southern African Customs Union (SACU) revenue as of 2011, and the environmental challenge of global climate change which is impacting developing countries the most [4, 12, 58]. The consequences of climate change in turn present one of the most fundamental threats to biodiversity and the functioning of ecosystems [54]. Swaziland is therefore faced with two dilemmas: the grapple with the challenge of marrying economic growth and poverty alleviation; and at the same time, it is expected to exert efforts for environmental conservation and resource sustainability, among others of the marula species.

The past few decades have seen marula and its products gaining popularity in the international market due to demand for its many by-products, such as marula oil and the well-known Amarula cream liqueur [7, 8, 60, 64, 75]. The increased demand for marula products, coupled with the high incidence of poverty, especially among rural women in Swaziland, led to the establishment of the two marula processing plants in 2004. These initiatives have attracted a large number of Swazi women to scout the forests and fields around their homesteads in search of marula fruits and seeds to sell and earn an income. This commercially induced harvesting of marula fruits and seeds poses a potential threat to the marula tree species as more and more of the seeds that would support regeneration and recruitment of new marula trees are removed through increased harvesting.

According to Peters [56], when the bark, fruits, seeds, wood and other parts of a species are harvested for processing into various products at household and/or commercial levels, there may be significant impacts on the population structure and distribution of the species, depending on the nature and intensity of the harvest. This imposes a potential threat to the species in the sense that it might be driven to depletion and/or extinction if proper sustainability measures are not put in place. Therefore, it is clear that the potential depletion or extinction of marula in Swaziland could compromise the livelihood activities and well-being of large numbers of the rural poor in terms of income generation, as they derive a substantial part of their livelihoods from harvesting marula products.

trade. This is a very significant number of harvesters added and, has increased the burden on marula resources. The increase in numbers of harvesters in this study agrees fairly well with the increase in the number of basket makers in the case of the introduction of basketry in Botswana in the 1970s [46] which contributed to the collapse of the basket industry due to

Commercial Harvesting of Marula (*Sclerocarya Birrea*) in Swaziland: A Quest for Sustainability

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.76606

309

Also in Zimbabwe, Terry and Cunningham [66] reported that a weaving club that was started in 1986 with 20 members expanded to 500 people by 1988 due to the expansion in market demand and eventually contributed to the collapse of the weaving club. This means that the introduction of commercial market economy to natural products, such as marula, tends to attract more entrepreneurs to the enterprise which, in turn, leads to overharvesting and, subsequently, to depletion of the resource base. Our data indeed revealed that 53.8% (n = 171) of the respondents were of the opinion that marula is becoming less available than before, and attributed the decline to the increase in the number of harvesters. Once a communal resource is exposed to an improved market, it tends to attract many harvesters, which leads to overexploitation and depletion of the resource [20, 21]. These findings concur with those reported by Shackleton and Shackleton [61] where more than one-third of their respondents in the Bushbuckridge area in South Africa opined that there had been a decrease in marula follow-

The Swaziland Indigenous Products (SIP) (2012) observed that the factors currently threatening the continued productivity and biodiversity in Swaziland are largely a result of socioeconomic changes without appropriate adaption, exacerbated by repeated droughts and, possibly, climate change, which are interlinked and, in some cases, form negative synergies. Other factors threatening biodiversity in Swaziland (and thus the sustainability of marula harvesting) include population growth, which has resulted into changes in land use and more intense use of natural resources, overgrazing, deforestation, erosion, and an increase in inva-

Infestation of marula trees and fruits by pests in the study area has also been reported. This was confirmed by the Swaziland Minister of Tourism and Environmental Affairs when he pointed out that marula is commonly being affected by worms [50]. According to the Minister, the worms make the marula trees dry out in a very strange way, leaving them with no leaves and yielding no fruits, which disturbs the production of marula fruits. The impact of the pests on the marula tree not only affects the popular *Buganu* ceremony but also the production of various products by the two local commercial companies—the Swazi Secrets and the Swaziland Marula—as well as the livelihoods of the poor rural communities. Some respondents indicated worries on the pest situation, alluding to the fact that some of the trees are no longer yielding fruits due to the impact of pests. This worry was also echoed by the spokesperson for the Swazi Secrets marula company. Besides, storms frequently occur annually in Swaziland and when they do, marula trees fall down and, thus, reduce fruit yield which in turn impact

negatively on the commercial marula enterprises and rural livelihoods in the country.

With regard to expected future availability of marula, if levels of harvesting and selling were to continue at the current rate, 44.7% (n = 140) of the respondents opined that marula will only be available in the next 5 years, while 40.0% (n = 125) thought it might still be available for the

ing the introduction of improved market for marula products.

resource depletion.

sive alien plants [65].
