The latest health trend comes from Africa

The fruits of the mighty baobab trees have always been on the table in Africa. Baobab powder has now experienced a boom in Europe and the USA. However, this year there is particularly little interest from local collectors.

Since she was a child, Loveness Bhitoni has been collecting the fruit of the majestic baobab trees that surround her family’s home in northeastern Zimbabwe. The fruit pulp has always complemented meals made from maize and millet. Baobab fruits are now increasingly appreciated in Europe, the USA and China and have become a source of income for Bhitoni. But the climate crisis is putting pressure on the business.

The benefits of the baobab are becoming increasingly popular worldwide. “It is no coincidence that baobab has become a globally traded and well-known superfood,” says plant expert Gus Le Breton, a pioneer in the baobab industry. He still remembers the many safety and toxicological tests that were necessary to convince the authorities in Europe and the USA to approve it.

Positive impact demonstrated

“That was ridiculous, because the baobab fruit has been safely consumed in Africa for thousands of years,” emphasizes the botanist, who specializes in African plants used as food and medicine.

The fruits of the baobab tree have a lot to offer: They are a source of vitamins, have antioxidants and important minerals. Studies have shown positive health effects. Around eight years ago, the EU approved the introduction of baobab powder as a food and drink ingredient, and the USA followed suit a year later.

Devastating drought hit baobabs

Loveness Bhitoni gets up before dawn to collect the baobab fruit. She sells the bags to buyers from the city or directly to factories that process the pulp and seeds. Six years ago, the baobab trade came to her village of Kotwa. In the past, the money from the trade was enough to buy clothes and to pay for school for the children. Now the families can only buy the bare necessities of food. The recent catastrophic drought has taken its toll even on the drought-resistant baobabs.

“We can only buy corn and salt,” says Bhitoni after a long day of harvesting. “Cooking oil is a luxury because there is simply not enough money. Sometimes I can’t buy a bar of soap for a whole month. Not to mention school fees or children’s clothing.”

Tens of thousands of residents of the African baobab regions now rely on the trade in the coveted fruit. The industry association African Baobab Alliance has set itself the goal of more than one million women in southern Africa benefiting from the harvest and sale of the fruits, which can grow up to almost half a meter in size, by 2030.

Together with China, the USA and Europe are now the largest markets for baobab powder. According to the Dutch Centre for Import Promotion, the global market could reach a volume of ten billion dollars (about nine billion Swiss francs) by 2027.

A kilogram of baobab powder costs around 30 euros (CHF 28.50) in Germany. The ingredient can be found in snack bars and drinks, or sprinkled into muesli or yoghurt. Companies like Coca-Cola and Pepsi have even introduced product lines with baobab ingredients.

Collectors like Loveness Bhitoni can only dream of being able to afford such products. Bhitoni gets just 15 cents for a kilo of fruit – and the mighty baobabs are currently yielding very little.

“We can’t defend ourselves because we’re hungry”

“The fruit is in demand, but the trees are not producing much this year, so sometimes I come home without having filled a single sack,” says the 50-year-old. “I need five sacks to have enough money for a 10-kilo package of maize flour.”

Some buyers offer corn flour in direct exchange for fruit, but under poor conditions, she says. “It’s hard work, but the buyer doesn’t understand that.”

Collectors often have no choice but to accept the offer, adds Kingstone Shero from the local council. “The buyers dictate the prices to us and we have no way of defending ourselves because we are hungry.”

By Farai Mutsaka, AP