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The population of shea butter tree (Vitellaria paradoxaC. F. Gaertn.)—a priority tree with enormous economic and cultural values to the parkland communities in Uganda, is rapidly declining due to rapid human population growth, increasing land fragmentation, and high demand for woodfuel especially charcoal. Reversing this trend will depend on the rural community involvement in the planting, facilitating natural regeneration, and tending of shea trees on farm. As such a survey was conducted in Amuria district, eastern Uganda, to assess local strategies and constraints to on-farm management of shea trees, and document socio-demographic factors influencing the on-farm conservation. About 93% of the households protected naturally regeneratedV. paradoxatrees mainly on farms.V. paradoxawas mostly propagated through coppices and seedlings. Although insecure land tenure, insecurity, pests, disease, and shortage of planting materials were reported as major hindrances, farmsize, family size, and gender significantly (P≤0.05) influenced people’s willingness to conserveV. paradoxa. Byelaws and policies on shea conservation need to be properly enforced, and further propagation research is required especially towards shortening the juvenile period ofV. paradoxaso that more farmers can start propagating the tree other than relying on its natural regeneration.

Mineral composition of dry Tamarindus indica LINN pulp and seeds was evaluated on samples collected from three different agro‐ecological zones of Uganda (Lake Victoria Crescent, and Eastern and West Nile). The objective of the study was to evaluate the mineral composition of T. indica pulp and seed samples from across Uganda's different agro‐ecological zones and land use types. Separately grounded samples of T. indica pulp and seeds were analyzed for Zn, Fe, Mg, P, Na, K, and Ca. The univariate analysis of variance in the General Linear Model was used to compare differences in mineral composition. Treatment means were separated using Least Significant Difference (LSD) in Post Hoc Tests. The results showed that there were significant differences (p ≤ 0.005) in mineral composition levels of T. indica pulp and seed samples between the different agro‐ecological zones with the exception of P and Na (for pulp). The T. indica pulp and seeds samples from the Lake Victoria Crescent zone and wild land use type had generally higher mineral levels than T. indica samples from other agro‐ecological zones and different land use types. As mineral composition levels were generally higher in the seed than the pulp samples, consumption of T. indica seeds should be promoted. There is also need to conserve individual species both on‐farm and in the wild population, but T. indica mineral concentrations (both pulp and seeds) were higher in the samples from the wild population, making them good for human and animal diets.

Traditional practices are universally recognised as a basis for conservation of biodiversity. However, such practices are often not included in natural resource conservation policies. This study assessed local conservation practices of shea trees (Vitellaria paradoxa) within different farming systems in Uganda and developed conservation guidelines for the species. The assessment involved 300 respondents, 15 focus groups and 41 key informants. Content analysis was used to identify the most important management and conservation practices. Local uses were categorised on the basis of shea tree products while differences in conservation practices were analysed using the Friedman test. The results show that eight shea tree products are used for 36 different purposes. Respondents' age significantly influenced their knowledge about the shea tree. Traditional conservation practices include on-farm retention during cultivation and the use of folklore (mainly Readers should send their comments on this paper to BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue. taboos), customs and rituals. Traditional management practices include weeding, bush burning, pollarding and pruning. Based on the current management and traditional conservation practices, a framework for the conservation of shea trees is proposed for integration into conservation policy decisions.

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The shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa,C.F.Gaertn) is an indigenous fruit tree distributed in the shea parklands of Africa. The shea fruit is an important source of food for rural communities especially at time of food shortages, hunger and other disasters in addition to providing enormous health benefit and income. Because of its role in combating food insecurity and sustaining rural livelihoods, an assessment of the nutritional composition of shea fruit pulp was carried out in Uganda.