African wild olive

and olive oil opportunities in Ethiopia

Prepared for Unilever and Bertolli

on the occasion of the meeting for the
Agro-mission Ethiopia of the Ministry of
Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, The
Netherlands, 24 august 2007

Prof. dr. ir. Bart Muys

dr. ir. Raf Aerts

Research Group Forest Ecology and Management

Division Forest, Nature and Landscape
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Commercial olive groves in the world

Natural subspecies

Cultivated olives O. e. sativa

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African wild olive

O. e. cuspidata (O. africana)

Wide range from Eritrea south
through East tropical Africa to
South Africa, and in Yemen,
Arabia, Iran and the Himalaya
(1250-) 1700-2700 (-3000) m
Replaced by O. capensis
(Ironwood) towards the south
Optimum: Ethiopian plateau

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Major Ethiopian forest formations on the plateau (PNV)

Juniperus forest zone

with African wild olive

Afrocarpus forest zone

Moist broadleaved forest zone

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Specific context of the Ethiopian plateau
Forest degradation

Impoverishment together with increasing population pressure has

led to almost complete deforestation

National high forest index:

0.20% (GTZ/LUPO)
(FAO 2005: forest + other
wooded land: 11.9 + 40.7 %)

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One approach to control further environmental degradation
forest restoration using exclosures

Implemented by the regional government and NGOs

Formally declared and community-managed
No free-range grazing; no tree cutting; controlled grass harvesting;
usually combined with physical SWC

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Recovering vegetation in exclosures

Aim
restoration of Afromontane forest,
preferentially the original
Juniperus Afrocarpus forest of
the Ethiopian highland

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Recovering vegetation in exclosures
Aim
restoration of Afromontane forest
Reality
rapid recovery of grasses, herbs
and shrubs (from soil seed bank
and resprouting) but tree
regeneration is slow and often
unnoticed

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Recovering vegetation in exclosures
Aim
restoration of Afromontane forest
Reality
rapid recovery of grasses, herbs
and shrubs (from soil seed bank
and resprouting) but tree
regeneration is slow and often
unnoticed
Intervention by NGOs and
private forestry industry
conversion to plantations by
seedling planting (mainly non-
native trees such as Eucalyptus
and Cupressus for timber and
pulp production)

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Recovering vegetation in exclosures

Aim
restoration of Afromontane forest
Reality
rapid recovery of grasses, herbs and
shrubs (from soil seed bank and
resprouting) but tree regeneration is
slow and often unnoticed
Intervention by NGOs and private
forestry industry
conversion to plantations by seedling
planting (mainly non-native trees such
as Eucalyptus and Cupressus for
timber and pulp production)
Olive agroforestry system may be a
more sustainable alternative

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 Rehabilitation Sustainable land use

Regeneration in exclosures Conservation

Poverty e.g. olive agroforestry Poverty alleviation
Food insecurity

Increased
Productivity
Population growth

Climatic change
Overgrazing, wood cutting
Desertification Environmental degradation
Erosion

Water table
drainage
Loss of
biodiversity 11
 Olive opportunities in exclosures

Natural regeneration
under shrubs Seedling planting under shrubs
(5-15 seedlings per ha)
Acacia Euclea

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Low-input olive plantations

Managing persistent olive coppice in exclosures (30 dwarf shrubs per ha,
130 per ha along gullies)
Rapid establishment of low-input plantations by grafting wild olive
rootstocks with O. e. sativa cultivars (e.g. drought, cold and salt tolerant
varieties such as Sorani, Syria)
Forest fragments also potential l.i. plantations (churches, escarpments)

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Olive opportunities in new plantations

European cultivars require mild

Less than 400 mm

wet winters and hot dry summers.
Water requirement 400-800 mm
(rainfed culture)
Normal rainfall regime in the
northern highlands: cold wet
summer and hot, dry winter: only
suitable for African olive
Certain localities (e.g. near
Wukro, Adigrat) have
microclimates with reversed More than 800 mm
rainfall patterns (winter rain):
suitable for European cultivars?

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Research needs for establishing profitable plantations
autoecology and genetic diversity

Current distribution of African wild olive in Ethiopia

Land suitability mapping (including climate, soil and other growth
requirements) for African wild olive
Genetic and phenotypical diversity of African wild olive (with
emphasis on fruit properties such as fruit production per tree, fruit
dimension, oil content, oil quality)
Identification of plus trees and creation of an ex situ gene bank

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Research needs for establishing profitable plantations
crop science and plant physiology

Selection and breeding practices, crop improvement

Nursery practices and multiplication of African wild olive through
seeding, cutting, grafting, including the potential of grafting
Mediterranean olive varieties on African wild olive rootstocks
Crop technology: optimizing the establishment techniques of
African wild olive in different cropping systems (forest restoration,
monoculture plantation and agroforestry plantation, such as
intercropping with e.g. Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius)
Inventory and risk assessment of pests and diseases
Drought tolerance of AWO provenances

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Research needs for establishing profitable plantations
environmental impact

Assessment of the sustainability using a life cycle analysis (LCA)

approach
Land use impact of AWO oil production (including impacts on soil,
water and vegetation)
Carbon sequestration potential of AWO plantations; potential for selling
carbon credits in the CDM A/R scheme of the Kyoto Protocol
Assessment of the impact of olive plantations on biodiversity
Impact of plantations on biodiversity of native flora and fauna in a
landscape context
Avoiding the introduction of exogenous diseases and pests by
importing European olive stock

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Research needs for establishing profitable plantations
socio-economic impact

Opportunities for investment (plantations, outgrower schemes,

pressing installations)
Socio-economic impact of oil production on local communities and
local markets, including stakeholders perceptions, possibilities for
job creation and income generation
Socio-cultural impact of olive oil introduction
Uses, substitutes and alternative functions of the oil and the by-
products, including bioenergy production, composting, etc.
Non-wood forest products from olive oil plantations (wood, honey,
meat)

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 For more information about our research group
please visit our website

www.biw.kuleuven.be/lbh/lbnl/forecoman/
or more.at/forecoman

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