Project
An Allanblackia R&D demonstration farm was established in 2010 in a degraded Forest Reserve in partnership between Unilever and Form International to investigate the productive, agronomic and commercial feasibility of sustainable Allanblackia oil production. Allanblackia parviflora is a tree species native to many African countries. Seeds of these trees produce high quality oil for application in food and non-food products. To date, 67 hectares have been established, are actively managed and play an important role in ongoing R&D work. Part of the trees have started bearing fruits and research on flowering, fruiting and seed production is continued. Next to forest restoration, these trees are also tested in mixed production with cocoa with a number of smallholder cocoa farmers.
Our role
Form International has been responsible for amongst others farm design, establishment and management, lead R&D work and collaborate with partners (ICRAF, FORIG, Novel Ghana, IUCN), tree nursery production and research, acquisition of a broad range of genetic material and plant types, and business modelling. Form International is member of the Allanblackia Partnership.
Results
- Largest existing Allanblackia plantation in Africa and worldwide
- Key source of input data for Allanblackia business modelling
- Key site to generate knowledge on:
- Growth and yield
- Best plantation management practices
- Cost/benefit
- Environmental and ecological impacts
- Genetic varieties
- Largest pool of plant material, genetic sources and diversity of Allanblackia in one site
- Important showcase of Allanblackia as a species of choice for forest landscape restoration and sustainable forest and/or farm management.
