The Baobab tree, which provides shelter, food and medicine to communities across Africa, is poised to become the next big super food in Europe and beyond.  And while the tree’s fruit might offer amazing nutritional benefits, developing the tree into a commodity crop may prove perilous for the people that now rely upon the plant for survival and even for the tree itself, according to the New York Times.  The Baobab currently grows wild and is easily accessible to locals, but if demand increases dramatically then agribusiness will likely take control.  The tree would be turned into a plantation crop in areas where arable land is already extremely limited, putting forests and farmland at risk, as well as the genetic diversity of the plant.

The new business may provide some jobs to residents, but if handled poorly could limit access to the trees nutritional, medicinal, cultural, and economic benefits.  The key to preserving the health of the communities that rely on the Baobab tree, while sharing it’s health remedies with the world, will depend on the development of a fair trade system that protects the people and the land.  As Dawn Starin points out in her New York Times’ Op-ed, the commercialization of coffee provides a good model for how regulation can provide protection for the communities that produce the crop, while still making the product accessible to the world.  Let’s hope that exporters can decide on comprehensive fair trade programs, before everyone goes crazy for Baobab.

Photo: i_pinz’s flickr photostream (creative commons)