A Comparative Evaluation of the Economic Contributions and Uses of Strychnos cocculoides and Schinziophyton rautanenii Fruit Trees to Poverty Alleviation in Mile 20 Village of Namibia

In Namibia, plant foods including indigenous fruits are amongst the most important non-timber forest products. Indigenous fruits constitute an important source of livelihood for the people of Rundu Rural West constituency and as such this study compared two species: Strychnos cocculoides and Schinziophyton rautanenii and assessed which species contribute more to the households’ cash income and food source so as to encourage its promotion. The study further assessed the traditional and other uses of Strychnos cocculoides and Schinziophyton rautanenii fruits and products. The study focused on Mile 20 Village in the Kavango region of Namibia. The study adopted an emergent, exploratory, and inductive qualitative approach and a triangulation method comprising of self-designed household survey questionnaire, interview and observation methods were employed in gathering data. To get the target sample from the three hundred households’ population, the village was stratified into four zones of North, South, East and West. Simple random sampling was used to select thirty-one households from all the zones. The study findings indicates that Strychnos cocculoides contribute to households’ cash income only, while Schinziophyton rautanenii contribute both to cash income and to food. Chi-square test showed that there is significant differences (P≤0.05) in the sources of the contributions of households cash income (Χ2 = 36.516, df = 6, P=0.001) as well as the contributions of Schinziophyton rautanenii to cash income and food source (Χ2 = 11.645, df = 1, P=0.001).The results further indicate a wide range of products can be obtained from these two fruit trees species. Some of these products are identified as medicinal, firewood, crafts and oil.