21893: Simidor: A new cash crop for Haiti? (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Daniel Simidor <karioka9@mail.arczip.com>


Today’s NYTimes (5/15/04) refers to the exemption from US sanctions against Sudan of a rare tree sap known as gum arabic, “an essential ingredient in everything from soft drinks to beauty products and pharmaceuticals.” The article laments how the acacia tree, particularly the variety known as “Acacia Senegal,” that produced this wonderful product, has become the latest victim of the war in Sudan.  Arab militias from the North have pushed the black “agriculturalists who usually collect the resin from the acacia trees” off the land, and in addition “displaced villagers in need of wood” have been cutting down the precious trees.  This new scarcity is driving up costs and is “roiling corporate America.”

It takes a particular combination of soil and climate to produce the right kind of sap.  The gum acacia was recently introduced as a cash crop in Ivory Coast, and is expected to raise the living standards of Ivoirian farmers.  According to another source, acacia also “prevents erosion by binding the soil, fixes nitrogen, provides employment and income through its gum, and is a good source of fuelwood.” Fortunately or unfortunately, there are now vast stretches of Haiti that mirror the semi-arid conditions in South-Central Sudan where this wonder plant grows.  Acacia (but apparently not the Senegal variety) already grows abundantly in Haiti’s dry savannas, and is know is some part of the country as “bwa chandèl” or “bayawonn wouj.”

Can the botanists on the list enlighten us on the acacia varieties in Haiti?  Should Haiti take advantage of the difficulties in the Sudan to introduce this new cash crop -- like Ivory Coast, Mali, Tchad and Senegal have done in recent years?

Daniel Simidor