UNREALIZED WEALTH IN AFRICA'S BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES

When we read publications on wildlife in Africa, mushrooms, which belong to the Fungi Kingdom of living things, are seldom mentioned. When we undertake literature surveys on Africa's agricultural crops, mushrooms feature nowhere. When we thumb through the pages in documents presenting accounts on cultivated vegetables in Africa, mushrooms never appear in the Table of Contents. And when we read inventories of Africa's medicinal biota, mushrooms are rarely listed in those publications. All along, mushrooms have been ignored, neglected, and marginalized. Yet, during the rainy season, many species of edible mushrooms are vigorously sought after, and are enthusiastically hunted in the bush in Africa's traditional rural village communities. They are, indeed, a very tasty, delicious, nutritious, and delightfully agreeable food relish

Most published accounts on fungi in Africa, and on their coverage in various school curricula, have been restricted to their negative attributes. They are mentioned only in passing, for example as common crop plant pathogens; as causes of common skin diseases that affect us, such as athlete's foot, ringworm, candidiasis, etc.; or as deadly poisonous biota, which should be avoided. This booklet looks at mushrooms with a different eye. It presents them as potent economic assets. It demonstrates that they can be farmed as new cash crops in Africa and elsewhere in the developing world. It highlights their potential as generators of new job opportunities for men and women in society; as agents for addressing Africa's poverty challenge; and as a source of novel natural products which display tantalizing, promising, and broad spectrum medicinal potency.

The message contained in this booklet abundantly reveals that with the mastery of basic knowledge on the biology of mushrooms, and of appropriate technologies on how to grow them, mushrooms can be developed into new vegetable crops in Africa that can be farmed to promote human health, being a rich source of vitamins, protein, and other life-invigorating attributes; as a non-traditional new agricultural cash crop that can find a comfortable niche in the competitive global market; and a bioresource that can be produced for human consumption all the year round, even in Sahelian, arid and semi-arid ecosystems, where sustainable agricultural crop production poses a daunting challenge.

I see the rich information contained in this booklet enabling the pioneer mushroom farmers in Africa's pen-urban and urban communities to succeed in producing larger quantities of high quality mushrooms for the expanding urban and global markets. I see sustained success in these ventures providing opportunities for African nations to promote technologies for farming their own indigenous mushroom species, many of which are endowed with a more agreeable taste and flavour than what the imported mushroom varieties (which are served in our various tourist hotels) offer. I see the ideas and technologies presented in this booklet diffusing into Africa's rural village communities, where a huge tonnage of agricultural crop residues is generated every year, which can be transformed into edible, medicinal, and exportable mushrooms. In that regard, I was delighted to note, after discussing with the authors of this booklet, that they have a vision to have it translated into several African languages. This will serve to maximize its impact in society, since the majority of our citizens in Africa, who mainly live in rural village communities, are not conversant with English. I see this initiative ultimately enabling Africa to become one of the world's large producers and exporters of mushrooms, and also making mushrooms an affordable vegetable relish, even amongst the less affluent members of society, and improving their health and economic welfare.

I therefore wish to take this opportunity to both commend and congratulate the United Nations Development Programme (UNOP) and the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) for their vision and support to the Regional Project that is aimed at promoting sustainable human development in Africa (RAF/99/021), through which this booklet saw the light of day. I am indeed most delighted that the University of Namibia, which has provided space and accommodation for the Regional Project Management Office (being also the host for the UNESCO/United Nations University ZERI Chair for Africa), is closely associated with the promotion of this regional initiative. Thanks to His Excellency, Dr. Sam Nujoma, President of the Republic of Namibia, who offered Namibia as the host country for providing Africa-wide leadership towards the realization of the vision described in this booklet. Thanks to the UNDP Country offices in Africa for their support and encouragement. Thanks also to Prof. Shu-Ting Chang and Prof. Keto Mshigeni for the wealth of knowledge they have shared with us on the subject.

Professor Peter H. Katjavivi
Vice Chancellor
University of Namibia