i Parkia biglobosa - School of Forest Resources & Environmental ...

compared the nutritional value to other savannah species trees and found the leaves had a
high amount of crude protein and high-energy value, key criteria for good quality fodder.
A study by Adeloye et al (1993) investigated the feed value of P. filicoidea leaves with
cassava peels which also fit the criteria for good quality fodder for goats.
P. biglobosa’s broad umbrella shaped canopy and retention of the leaves through
the dry season offers shade in a hot and harsh climate. The livestock escape the heat by
standing in the shade of P. biglobosa. Cattle and goats urinate and defecate under the
trees enriching the soil. Leaf fall also contributes by adding organic matter to the soil
beneath the tree. Farmers in the Gambia gather the leaves for use as fertilizers. In
Burkina Faso, Mossi, Gourounsi, Gourmantché, Loi and Sénoufo tribes use the testa, by-
products from dawadawa production, as fertilizers in their fields (Hall et al 1997)
P. biglobosa is used for charcoal production and firewood. Although the fruits
and seeds are economically important, P. biglobosa is used for the immediate conversion
of charcoal and firewood into cash. Funerals in Ghanaian culture are important and
significant occasions to honor the deceased. Clan members and guests are invited to
funerals to drink pito and eat several types of cooked food; koosi a bean flour doughnut
fried in shea butter, ‘light soup’, a chicken based peppery soup and rice balls. I attended
over a dozen funerals and the number of guests could reach two hundred people or more.
Brewing pito, a fermented drink made from sorghum, and cooking food for two hundred
people consumes a significant amount of firewood and charcoal. From interviews I
conducted at the 2001 CCFI Annual Workshop, funerals were the foremost reason given
for the decline in population of P. biglobosa.
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