The use of and trade in indigenous edible fruits in the Bushbuckridge Savanna region, South Africa

The use, processing, cultivation and trading of indigenous edible fruits wa s recorded across a rainfall gradient in the Mpumalanga lowveld. Three tran sects, each consisting of one village in a relatively high rainfall zone, o ne village in a low rainfall zone, and one intermediate, were sampled by me ans of 20 households per village. Nearly all households made use of indigen ous edible fruits to some extent, with households in the wettest region usi ng the greatest diversity of fruits. The duration of availability of select ed species was increased through drying, storing and processing the raw fru its for later consumption. Such activities were more common in the drier re gions relative to the wetter villages. Just less than half the respondents maintained indigenous fruit trees within their homestead or arable fields, whereas more than 65% grew exotic commercial fruit species. Many respondent s traded in edible fruits, but very few obtained a significant income in th is way. Nonetheless, even casual trading provided vital supplementary incom e for low-income households.