Forest Products, Livelihoods and Conservation

44 ‘Chop, but no broke pot’: the case of Prunus Africana on Mount Cameroon

is the major activity in the area, and Prunus africana harvesting supplements

household income.

Prunus exploitation and harvesting is a strenuous activity mostly involving

young men in the village. Female participation is limited to feeding their

husband to get them ready for their strenuous daily duties. Women are also

responsible for planting Prunus seedlings (often wildlings collected by their

husband) on their farms. During the production season from May to September

60% of the households in the raw material production area are involved in the

production-to-consumption system. P. africana is the major source of their

income and accounts for 70% of the US$71 average annual income from their

various activities. This income is very low, compared to the US$600 national

average recorded in 2003 or the US$500 for the data year of 2000. On average,

rural producers spend about US$2.15 for daily labour expenses, mainly to

purchase drugs and the inconsistent daily meal. Married rural workers may

spend less than this amount considering they get their breakfast at home and

carry up to the mountain the meal required for the day.

The processing industry

Tonye et al. (1999) reported on the various steps involved in the processing of

P. africana bark. In this chain, the input of local workers is limited to the

drying stage at the outset of the process, where bundles of 20 to 30 pieces of

fresh bark are sun-dried to less than 38.5% moisture content. The dried bark is

then supplied to Plantecam which, until recently, was the sole processing

industry in the Mount Cameroon area^4. Plantecam used to pulverise or ‘chip’

the bark before the extraction process. Further processing leads to a

noncrystalline extract in a red transparent paste with as much as 20% pure

extract depending on the solvent used. These can include methanol, distilled

water, chloroform, methylene chloride, benzene, cyclohexane, petroleum

ether, acetone and methylethylketone. From recent data, it is estimated that

200 kg of fresh bark yields 1 kg of extract (Pomatto unpublished report).

Trade and marketing

At the time of data collection Plantecam was the only company in the study

area processing P. africana bark supplied or acquired directly from the

harvesters without intermediaries or middlemen. The market line therefore

starts from the products extracted from the wild, continues to the village

storing place, where the sun-drying takes place and from where Plantecam

collects the products that will be weighed at the entrance of the factory

(Figure 5). The raw material price depends on the product’s moisture content

and degree of adulteration with non-Prunus bark. With these criteria the price

range is estimated at US$0.3 to US$0.41 per kilogram of bark at the factory

gate (Tonye et al. 1999).

The extract processed here was subsequently exported to Groupe Fournier.

It is not the only destination. Plantecam also sold raw extract to other processors

and pharmaceutical companies, where it is refined and capsules or tablets

(final products) are filled with 25 mg to 50 mg of Prunus extract ready for

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