Opportunities and challenges for sustainable production and marketing of gums and resins in Ethiopia

Any views expressed in this publication are those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of CIFOR, the authors' institutions or the financial sponsors of this publication. Contents Abbreviations vi Acknowledgements vii Foreword viii 1 Challenges and forest-based opportunities in the drylands of Ethiopia 1 1.1 Drylands of Ethiopia 1 1.2 Challenges facing the drylands of Ethiopia 2 1.3 Opportunities for forest-based enterprises 4 1.4 Dryland vegetation resources of Ethiopia 6 2 Resource base of gums and resins and challenges of productivity 13 2.1 Introduction 13 2.2 Gum-and resin-producing species and their spatial coverage 13 2.3 Yield and productivity 24 2.4 Economic and ecological significance 27 2.5 Degradation of gum and resin resources and major causes 33 2.6 Options for restoration 40 3 Production, handling and quality control 47 3.1 Introduction 47 3.2 History of gum and resin production in Ethiopia 47 3.3 Production processes and gum handling 48 3.4 Post-harvest handling 55 3.5 Quality of gums and resins 56 3.6 Quality control 63 3.7 Challenges related to production and supply 64 4 Value-added processing and marketing of gums and resins 69 4.1 Introduction 69 4.2 Industrial application and local use of gums and resins 70 4.3 Value-added processing and implications 74 4.4 Advantages of value-added processing 75 4.5 Trade and marketing of gums and resins 79 4.6 Marketing chain 81 5 Challenges, opportunities and actions for sustainable gum and resin production 87 5.1 Challenges and opportunities 87 5.2 Future actions 91 1.1 Estimated extent of drylands in Ethiopia 1 2.1 Common and potential gums and resins producing Acacia, Commiphora and Boswellia species found in the drylands of Ethiopia 14 2.2 Estimated extent of area containing vegetation with gum-and resin-producing species in Ethiopia by regional state 16 2.3 Commercial gums and resins with botanical sources and local designations 16 2.4 Gum-and incense-producing tree species found in the Borana area 22 2.5 Estimated potential and annual production of gum and incense in Ethiopia 25 2.6 Natural gums (gum olibanum, gum arabic, myrrh/opoponax) exported from Ethiopia by various enterprises during the past 15 years 25 2.7 Comparison of actual and potential gum and resin production in Ethiopia, based on figures for 2003/04 26 2.8 Local uses of gums and resins and their source species in lowland areas of Ethiopia 30 3.1 Grades of gum olibanum (Tigray type) 55 3.2 Data on the physico-chemical properties of gum arabic from A. …