Importance socioéconomique de Elaeis guineensis Jacq. (Palmier à huile) en Basse-Casamance (SENEGAL)

Abstract

Lower Casamance harbors enormous economic potentialities due to the importance of its forest resources. Among the forest species of the area, Elaeis guineensis is one of the most exploited for its many services and products. Despite its importance, the oil palm tree is experiencing real threats linked to a combination of natural and anthropogenic factors. The overall objective of this study is to contribute and evaluate the goods and services provided by the agroforestry parks in Lower Casamance which will lead to an alert to the whole community about the threats to these secular systems. For that purpose, an individual questionnaire was administered to a sample of 146 invidious (33 in Carounate, 57 in Kabiline and 56 in Kaguite) according to their business sector in the palm plantation in each of the sites. Corresponding to 5% poll rate. It should be noted that most of the surveyed population acquires their product through harvesting (72% in Carounate, 70.97% in Kabiline and 70.21 in Kaguite). All parts of the oil palm are exploited by the local population for various purposes. Thus the most important frequencies are the use in construction (100%), the production of palm oil on average (94.87% and the making of brooms on average (92.97%). The sale of the palm products is a source of unshakeable revenue that can provide up to 865000F cfa for palm oil, 675000Fcfa for palm wine and 280000F cfa for brooms. This is why, according to 90.91% of the respondents in Carounate, 37.41% in Kabiline and 45.71%, the exploitation of the oil palm occupies the second place, after agriculture, in their activities. It is therefore all the interest to permanently preserve these secular systems.