Abstract:
Vitellaria paradoxa plays a very important role in the economic and
social life of smallholder farmers in Sub Sahara Africa. Currently, there is a
renewed interest to protect and improve the shea resource as national and
international demand for shea kernel and butter increases. At the same time,
shea parklands are shrinking because of the need for woody resources,
increasing demand for land and competition for the use of the landscape from
diverse sectors. The study aimed to enhance the agronomic information of V.
paradoxa to better manage the shea agroforestry parklands in Atacora district.
To achieve this, forests inventories in agricultural lands helped to the
understanding of the shea tree population demographic structure and diversity
in different land use types. Further, the management of shea parklands was
explored through a household survey. Afterwards fruit yield was monitored in
order to assess shea fruit yield and identify its determining factors. Finally, the
dendro-chronological analyses were applied to establish tree growth dynamics
and its implication to management. Shea parklands appear stable; however
diameter classes’ distribution and regeneration are influenced by land use type
and management practices. Shea parklands have the potential to contribute to
biodiversity conservation. Shea trees under fields conditions established on
Lixisols registered the best performance in terms of fruit yield. Also, the shea
average cambial increment of
3.24mm yr-1
