AT WHAT AGE DO BAOBAB TREES START TO PRODUCE FRUIT?

Flower and fruit production usually only takes place once a tree is a certain size. Baobab tree growth is dependent on access to water. Where trees grow in high rainfall areas (+1000mls …per year) baobabs can reach maturity much more quickly than in arid areas. We have worked out that in Venda where rainfall is 350ml per year it can take a ‘young’ baobab 200 years before it produces its first baobab fruit ! Here is a picture of a youthful 180 year old tree. It gives you a real sense of how easily we take the resources of nature for granted without appreciating the energy and time nature puts into the creation of what we harvest.

 

Continue reading....

Find more interesting articles below

Calling the community

Calling the community

I was visiting a village in Venda the other day and needed to talk to the community about when I would be collecting baobab fruit.  During the day people are scattered and busy with other chores so it’s difficult to get to speak to everybody at the same time.  The headman’s wife was so excited […]

Read more
we all need a livelihood strategy: what’s yours?

we all need a livelihood strategy: what’s yours?

This is Sani Mudau. When I was visiting the village last week she was busy with an embroidery while she was waiting for her turn to be paid for the fruit she had collected. Since it's Women's Day today I thought I would celebrate the local Venda women. Many rural women have something called a […]

Read more
Baobabs Tell of Ancient African Past

Baobabs Tell of Ancient African Past

A wonderful story that meanders along a trail, 1 000 years old, linking Vilanculos on the coast of Mozambique with the home of the little golden rhino, Mapungubwe. The trail is marked by the presence of giant baobabs, observers, watchers, sentinels of the past, silent witnesses to the rise and fall of cultures and communities. Along the way, we hear from EcoProducts owner Dr Sarah Venter.

Read more