This report is the second in a series of three evaluating underexploited African plant resources that could help broaden and secure Africa's food supply. The volume describes the characteristics of 18 little-known indigenous African vegetables (including tubers and legumes) that have potential as food- and cash-crops but are typically overlooked by scientists and policymakers and in the world at large. The book assesses the potential of each vegetable to help overcome malnutrition, boost food security, foster rural development, and create sustainable landcare in Africa. Each species is described in a separate chapter, based on information gathered from and verified by a pool of experts throughout the world. Volume I describes African grains and Volume III African fruits.

The baobab is surely the botanical symbol of Africa, instantly recognizable from afar and a compelling icon of the African landscape. This age-old ‘upside-down tree’ invariably inspires wonder, awe and mystery, and has intrigued travellers for hundreds of years. In this absorbing and inspired account of The African Baobab, author Rupert Watson explores the life and times of this fascinating tree, from its early Madagascan beginnings to its present status on the continent and its future in a changing Africa. He effortlessly mixes natural science, history and personal experience, drawing on extracts from the journals of early explorers who, on encountering these extraordinary trees, measured and sketched them for a sceptical audience back home; and he presents intriguing, detailed accounts of the baobab’s eccentric growth and reproductive habits, its present-day distribution, and its wide impact on everyday African life. The author takes a close look at the myriad uses of baobabs over the ages: their hollow centres have served as prisons, toilets, wells and bars, and some specimens have even been used as a refuge in battle or as burial sites. Their fibre, seeds and fruit are credited with hundreds of applications, both practical and medicinal. Many locals feel a spiritual connection to these trees – believing them to possess mystical powers – and use them in rituals to promote healing or luck. Other relationships between humans and the baobab are explored too, often illustrated by delightful anecdotes. The rich and enthusiastic text is complemented by evocative, colourful images that show the curious baobab in all its many stages, moods and guises – and sometimes in the most unlikely places. This book cannot fail to inspire.

This is the only comprehensive account of all eight species in the genus Adansonia. It describes the historical background from the late Roman period to the present. It covers the extraordinary variety of economic uses of baobabs. There are also appendices on vernacular names, gazetteer, economics, nutrition and forest mensuration. This book fills a gap in the botanical literature. It deals with a genus that has fascinated and intrigued scientists and lay persons for centuries.

The baobab tree story, which I wrote (the church version) is actually based upon a true story, told by Limakatso Nare, a Lutheran pastor who is currently serving a congregation in Louisiana. When he was growing up in his native Africa, he gathered for Sunday school under the baobab tree. Here he learned the Biblical stories of Noah and the ark, Jonah and the big fish, and the parables of Jesus. His Sunday school experiences inspired my story, Under the Baobab Tree.

Learning to survive in the harsh interior of Southern Africa, a former slave seeks shelter in the hollow of a baobab tree. For the first time since she was a young girl her time is her own, her body is her own, her thoughts are her own. In solitude, she is finally able to reflect on her own existence and its meaning, bringing her a semblance of inner peace. Scenes from her former life shuttle through her mind: how owner after owner assaulted her, and how each of her babies were taken away as soon as they were weaned, their futures left to her imagination. We are the sole witnesses to her history: her capture as a child, her tortured days in a harbor city on the eastern coast as a servant, her journey with her last owner and protector, her flight, and the kaleidoscopic world of her baobab tree. Wilma Stockenström's profound work of narrative fiction, translated by Nobel Prize winner J.M. Coetzee, is a rare, haunting exploration of enslavement and freedom.