Commercial gum and gum-resin resources in Kenya: Their description, harvesting, value addition, trade and marketing

Abstract

Gums and resins are among the natural resources in Kenya with potential for generating wealth and uplifting the living standards of the local communities in the drylands. The quality of Kenyan gums and resins is however affected by various factors that include botanical origin and mixing of different species. Effort is therefore required to address issues related to improvement and production of commodities from these resources including correct species identification. Commercial gum arabic is obtained from Acacia senegal or A. seyal while gum resins are myrrh from Commiphora myrrha, hagar from C. holtziana and frankincense from Boswellia neglecta. Species that are likely to be confused with A. senegal are A. condyloclada, A. hamulosa, A. ogadensis, and A. thomasii while those likely to be confused with A. seyal are A. zanzibarica, A. xanthophloea and A. hockii. Possible adulterants of gum arabic are A. paolii and A. mellifera while resins are usually adulterated with C. africana, Commiphora confusa, C. habessinica, C. schimperi, C. pseudopaolii, C. kua var. gowlello and C. incisa. Harvesting of gums and resins is done manually by labor-intensive traditional methods of tapping. All gums and resins produced in Kenya are exported in raw form except for a small quantity of the total volume produced that is processed for essential oils. The resource potential of gums (3000 MT) and resins (3500 MT) far exceeds current levels of production (.400-500 MT for gum arabic and 1000 MT for gum resins). Both cultural and conventional markets exist for these products. However, exports of gum arabic from Kenya are still very small relative to the resource potential. A numbers of factors that affect the supply and marketing of these commodities have been highlighted. It is concluded that there is room for increased collection and marketing of gums and gum resins through intervention of the identified constraints and diversification of the sub-sector. A structured approach to sub-sector development through public private partnership is recommended.