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John Rashford
Baobab
The Hadza of Tanzania and the Baobab as Humanity’s Tree of Life
John Rashford Department of Sociology and Anthropology College of Charleston
Charleston, SC, USA
ISBN 978-3-031-26469-6 ISBN 978-3-031-26470-2 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-26470-2
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifcally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microflms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
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The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affliations.
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This book is dedicated to the Hadza who are as tenacious as their baobab tree.
Preface
Modern humans, descendants of a founding population that separated from chimpanzees theorized to be anywhere from four to eight million years ago, are today the only living representative of a branching group of African apes called hominins. Because of its extraordinary size and shape, the baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) has long been identifed as the most striking tree of Africa’s mosaic savanna, the landscape generally regarded as the environment of hominin evolution. This book makes the case for identifying the baobab as a “tree of life”—the exceptional lifemanifesting, life-giving, and life-representing tree—in the development of the hunter-gatherer adaptation that became the economic foundation of hominin evolution. The argument is based on the signifcance of the baobab a resource-rich environment for the Hadza of northeastern Tanzania, who continue to be successful hunter-gatherers of the African savanna. The Hadza are known for having one of the best baobab cultures in the world, though it is yet to be documented in a systematic way. They are also widely recognized by researchers from various disciplines as among the most important hunting and gathering cultures for theorizing hominin evolution in association with Africa’s mosaic savanna (Hawkes 2016). In May 1991, the Deseret News published an article describing an exhibition of forty-fve Hadza photographs at the Utah Museum of Natural History. They were taken by James F. O’Connell, an archaeologist at the University of Utah well known for his Hadza research, and the exhibition was aptly titled “Children of the baobab: Growing up Hadza.” As foragers in the landscape of human evolution, the Hadza model for us the possible practical and inspirational signifcance of the baobab for prehistoric hominins, especially species of the genera Australopithecus and Homo. From this perspective, we are all in a sense “children of the baobab.”
In his infuential article on the medical, social, and cultural signifcance of the baobab in African communities, the anthropologist John Owen (1968:36) referred to the baobab as a “silent chronicler of events down the centuries,” noting that archaeologists, physical anthropologists, cultural anthropologists, ecologists, historians, and folklorists “can learn a great deal from studying this very unusual tree.” Blurton Jones (2016:17), another major contributor to the development of Hadza studies, wrote: “Given that baobab trees have been found by radiocarbon dating to
live up to about 1000 years (Patrut et al. 2007), we can suspect that the Hadza have not been without these and other of their staple food plants at any time in the last thousand years.” There is indeed a lot to be learned from studying the baobab/ human association. But if we are to think of ourselves as “children of the baobab,” we will need a much more expanded time frame than suggested by “centuries,” or even millennia. It is in this context of the long view that the baobab is identifed in this book as humanity’s tree of life. The rich baobab culture of the Hadza makes them an appropriate group for exploring the idea of the baobab as humanity’s tree of life because many Hadza remain viable foragers in the ancestral landscape of human evolution.
Charleston, SC, USA
John Rashford
Introduction
Modern humans are the only living representative of a founding population that diverged from chimpanzees some four to eight million years ago, giving rise to a branching group of bipedal African apes called hominins. The baobab tree (Adansonia digitata L.) is likely to have been an important partner in the story of hominin evolution; it is not only the most conspicuous tree of Africa’s woodlands and grasslands but also widely recognized as one of the most useful. Understandably, the theme of this study is the baobab as the exemplary multipurpose tree of the mosaic savanna of hominin evolution.
“Tree of life” identifes a tree whose exceptional nature is that it is life manifesting, life giving, and life representing, and it is noteworthy that the baobab is already widely referred to as a tree of life, the tree of life, and Africa’s tree of life. There is a growing awareness of the baobab because it is often featured in nature documentaries as emblematic of Africa and of the African savanna. The tree and its image and tree-of-life name are often incorporated into the logos of diverse organizations; they are referenced in children’s books and academic publications, and they are a growing part of popular culture generally. They are, for example, associated with theme parks, flms, and other forms of commercial entertainment. And now the tree, image, and name are also linked to the increasing international trade in the fruit pulp and seeds, which are promoted for their health benefts in food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic products. What is particularly striking, however, is that the baobab is not only known as a tree of life and the tree of life; it has also been identifed as humanity’s ancestral tree of life. Speculations that the baobab was important in human evolution are not new. Hints of this idea appear in Owen’s (1968:36) characterization of the baobab as the “silent chronicler of events down the centuries,” in Blurton Jones’s (2016:17) refection on the long history between the Hadza and their baobab trees, and in various cultural cosmologies in which human origin is linked to the baobab. This idea occurs most famously in the title of Peter Matthiessen’s classic 1972 book, The Tree Where Man Was Born.
This book makes the case for identifying the baobab as the tree of life in the hunting and gathering adaptation that was the economic foundation of hominin evolution until as recently as some twelve thousand years ago when the cultivation of
plants and the keeping of livestock developed. The specifc purpose of this study is to provide support for accepting as a reasonable assumption the theory of the baobab as humanity’s ancestral tree of life. This support involves two premises. First, the overall argument presented is based on the importance of the baobab as an exceptional resource environment for Hadza foragers of northeastern Tanzania; Hadza savanna foraging is an historically contextualized instance of early hominin foraging in the same environment. Second, the baobab is the Hadza exemplary multipurpose tree, and the idea of an exemplary multipurpose tree is fundamental to the defnition of a tree of life. The baobab’s extraordinary appearance, longevity, diverse ecological associates, and numerous uses – especially uses associated with its abundant fruiting, long harvest period, and nutritious fruit pulp and seeds – have made it the outstanding resource tree of the Hadza; it is their tree of life, so to speak. These premises provide support for the theory of the baobab as the tree of life in the forager adaptation of early hominins.
This book stems from an interest in the baobab’s importance for Africans, especially foragers like the Hadza and San. I frst saw baobab trees in East Africa when, as an undergraduate, I spent almost a year traveling in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Ethiopia. I saw them again in 1971 when, as a group leader for Crossroads Africa, I traveled with my fellow Crossroaders north from Wenchi, Ghana, to Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, and from there south by train through the length of the Ivory Coast to Abidjan, the country’s capital. Although I was duly impressed with the magnifcence of the baobab, as I am sure most people are when they see a mature baobab for the frst time, I initially had no interest in learning more about the tree. That interest developed when I began encountering old baobab in the Caribbean while researching the cultural signifcance of the cotton tree (Ceiba pentandra L.) in the region (Rashford 1985). My incidental discovery of the species in Antigua was a surprise that made me realize how little was known about the ecology, history, and cultural signifcance of the baobab in the Caribbean, and in the Americas generally (e.g. Rashford 1987a, b, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1997b, 2022). In time, my interest in the introduction of the baobab to the Americas made me curious to learn more about its out-of-Africa dispersal, especially to India and to other parts of the Indian Ocean (Rashford 1993, 2019). It was not long, however, before my interest would lead to a curiosity about the baobab in human evolutionary history, given the presence of the tree in the landscape of the African savanna.
The book is divided into seven sections. The frst chapter of Part I identifes the distinguishing features of the baobab that allow us to characterize it as a tree of life, and the second introduces both the Hadza as successful foragers of the landscape of human origins and Hadza studies that document the use of the tree.
The two chapters of Part II present the development of hominin gendered foraging supported by the correlated evolution of handiness and bipedality as the general theoretical framework for identifying the baobab as the Hadza and Humanity’s tree of life.
The three chapters of Part III begin the discussion of the importance of material culture in hominin evolution and the importance of the baobab in Hadza material culture. The baobab as Africa’s premier fber tree is highlighted in Chap. 5; Chapter
6 discusses the importance of containers in hominin evolution and looks at the many ways in which the baobab is linked to Hadza container use; and Chap. 7 discusses the signifcance of fre in hominin evolution and the baobab’s many contributions to the Hadza use of fre.
The two chapters of Part IV discuss Hadza baobab use in relation to environmental considerations. The baobab and the Hadza use of water is the focus of Chap. 8. Chapter 9 discusses the seasonal value of the baobab for the Hadza. This seasonal importance as a resource-rich environment is relevant to many aspects of the argument for identifying the baobab as a tree of life for the Hadza and the tree of life in hominin evolution.
The eight chapters of Part V assess the baobab’s practical value for the Hadza, includes fruit, beverage, honey, birds, other animal foods, hunger-time tree of life, health, and exchange. The discussion is based on comparing and contrasting the Hadza with early hominins. The Hadza are theorized to be similar to early hominins with respect to foraging on the African savanna. From the point of view of similarities, if the traditional Hadza use of the baobab does typify the use of the tree in hominin evolution, then the Hadza can be viewed as a window on the importance of the baobab as a resource-rich environment in hominin evolution; from this perspective, the baobab can justly be described as humanity’s tree of life. However, the Hadza are also clearly different from early hominins who were foragers of the African savanna before the Broad-Spectrum Revolution, the origin of agriculture, and the development of the world market. In terms of the contrast between the Hadza and early hominins, the Hadza have long been subjected to the infuences of increasing resource competition and environmental and social circumscription involving their traditional food-producing agricultural, pastoral, and agropastoral neighbors, and especially the powerful infuence of local, national, and global commerce and politics (Bird-David 1992).
The baobab’s inspirational value for human beings has been largely overlooked in the literature. This aspect of the tree’s signifcance for the Hadza and other Africans is discussed in the fve chapters of Part VI. This discussion includes the baobab’s widespread links to various kinds of spiritual beings, its status as a fertility tree, its contribution to aesthetics, oral traditons, recreation, and education, and its many associations with danger and death.
The three chapters of Part VII discuss the Hadza infuence on baobab regeneration. The frst chapter describes Hadza central-place residential camps and discusses the baobab as a preferred camping site for the Hadza. The second considers the ways in which Hadza camping may be infuencing the regeneration of the baobab in their environment; it looks at human dispersal of the baobab from the vantage point of the coevolution of humans and baobab. The third considers the baobabs landscape of the Hadza their ultimate retreat.
This is a good time to write a book on the baobab as our ancestral tree of life since it is already widely identifed in the popular imagination as a tree of life and as the tree of life. It is also identifed today as the new “cinderella tree,” the new “super fruit,” and “the world’s newest super food” (Starin 2009). As frst described by Roger Leakey of The International Center for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF),
“cinderella trees” are those that until recently have largely been overlooked by science, industry, and the media, even though they clearly have the potential to alleviate poverty and contribute to food security by providing a variety of nutritious foods that are capable of long-term storage. The global commercialization of baobab fruit pulp and seeds is proceeding at a rapid pace and is full of promise. The justifcation for this commodifcation is that it will promote local development through international trade aimed at improving rural life, especially for women and children, and that it will provide income-producing work associated with the harvesting, gathering, processing, packaging, and transporting of baobab products. There is, however, cause for concern regarding the conservation of the species and the rich biological community it supports, and the task of ensuring that local communities continue to have access to the fruit and other baobab resources.
At issue is the fact that at this stage of market development, baobab fruits are harvested from trees in traditional landscapes that beneft local populations rather than from trees that have been systematically planted to meet the growing national and international market demand. In addition, some traditional harvesting techniques used to supply the commercial market, such as breaking or chopping off branches to harvest the fruit and leaves, are destructive. These concerns have led Starin (2009) to title her op-ed article in The New York Times “What Will Happen When the Baobab Goes Global?”
The baobab was approved for European markets last year, and the Food and Drug Administration is expected to follow suit soon. The fruit’s dry pulp will be sold as an ingredient in smoothies and cereal bars. Already, a small jar of African baobab jam made in England sells for around $11. According to the National Resources Institute in Britain, an international baobab industry could bring in about $1 billion a year and provide jobs for 2.5 million African families.
The aim of Starin’s article was to warn that “there’s another side to the picture,” and this is a warning that has also been voiced by others (Buchmann et al. 2010). In making this point, Starin would have been more accurate in titling her article “What Will Happen Now That the Baobab Has Gone Global?” even though we are still at the early stages of this development. “Fair Partnership” agreements suggest fruitgrowers earn more from selling whole fruit than from selling fully transformed products on local markets, and women in particular who process baobab in rural communities in Benin earn much more than they would from other activities. This fact raises the prospect of market competition for the fruit that will be to the detriment of local fruit consumption, and it highlights the immediate need for the commercial production of the baobab based on selective breeding of the most productive varieties, a development that also raises important issues regarding the protection of baobab biodiversity (Raebild et al. 2011; Jensen 2011).
The ideal of commercialization sounds positive, but what about all the people who have traditionally depended on local markets and on largely naturally occurring trees for their baobab products? The Hadza are on the front line of this process, and the fate of their baobabs will be the fate of the Hadza themselves. What will happen to the Hadza way of life when they face stiff competition for the fruit of the
baobab in the wake of its global commercialization? Consider, for example, the following observation of Blurton Jones (2016:21):
In 2000, Gudo Mahiya and I were distressed to see near Yaeda, that “Swahilis” were coming with sacks and donkeys to collect and take away baobab fruit, presumably to transport for sale in towns and villages. The developing “commercialization” of baobab (Kamatou et al. 2011) may become the next way in which the Hadza will be deprived of their heritage.
The baobab is not yet heavily commercialized in Hadza territory. Its current economic value is associated chiefy with honey and fruit, and with “safari tourism ” and recreational activities such as baobab sightseeing, tree-climbing, and fruit tasting.
It is hoped that this study of the relationship between humanity and this most extraordinary of trees will be of interest not only to researchers, teachers, and students, but also to policymakers whose decisions could determine the fate of the Hadza, their baobab trees, and their rights to the annual baobab harvest of their home environment (Prance 2007). It is also hoped that this study will enrich not only the perspective of those who live with the baobab, including everyone who enjoys it in their garden or as a potted plant or bonsai specimen, but also those who have seen it in their travels, and even those who know it in the form of jewelry, paintings, carvings, photographs, or the subject of religious and literary works.
I thank my family, friends, colleagues, and students; an extended work such as this is never successfully completed without their sustained support. I am also indebted to all Hadza researchers whose studies have made this assessment of Hadza baobab use possible. Completing this book would have taken much longer without the encouraging comments from colleagues on my baobab-related papers presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Economic Botany. A special thanks to my colleagues of the College of Charleston’s Department of Sociology and Anthropology. Hector Qirko, in particular, provided helpful comments on an early draft of this book, and Allison Foley for her helpful discussion and comments regarding hominin evolution. A special thanks also to Larry Lepionka, Steve Hoffus, and Bruce Tomaso for their expert editorial assistance. I am very appreciative of the assistance I received from the College of Charleston’s Marlene and Nathan Addlestone Library, especially the library’s interlibrary loan service. This book has defnitely benefted from the many valuable comments received from reviewers.
Fig. 1 Baobab Flower (1), examples of rounded and elongated baobab fruit shape (2 and 3), with elongated fruit showing the arrangement of the fruit pulp (3), and baobab seeds (4)
Fig. 2 Hadza hunters headed in the direction of the baobab as a resource-rich environment
Fig. 3 The Hadza use a peg ladder to scale the massive trunk of the baobab for a variety of resources including honey, fruit, water, and bark fber
Fig. 4 Hadza woman pounding baobab fruit pulp to make baobab powder. (Photograph by Alyssa Crittenden)
Fig. 5 Map of Africa. The general study area (including Lake Eyasi) is indicated in red and is shown in Google Maps on the opposite page. (The map is copied from “One Stop Map [online]: Vector Map Africa continent shaded relief”)
Fig. 6 Google satellite map of northern Tanzania with Lake Eyasi to the southwest of the volcanic highlands
Kingfshers, African Fish Eagles, and Ospreys
Birds that Nest on the Baobab
