Thousands of years of aboriginal tradition combined with modern CSIRO forestry science, the work of African researchers and Australia's native trees have helped create a world example of how to beat famine.

The seeds of Australian dry-zone acacias are providing vital sustenance for families living in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The remarkable success of a project which spans two continents, several cultures and knowledge both ancient and modern is being hailed as an example of Australia's unique contribution to international food security on World Food Day, which takes place tomorrow, October 16, 1997.

The people of Niger have faced five famines in the past 25 years. But recently, they have had the benefit of a new and highly nutritious food source - wattle seed flour, from Australian trees introduced to the region for firewood and erosion control.

The project had its origins in 1989 when visiting CSIRO forester Dr Lex Thomson explained to people in Maradi, a town in southern Niger, that the seeds of the Australian wattle Acacia colei grown locally were edible and, indeed, were an important part of the traditional diet of many Australian aboriginal people. Using locally available technology, the Maradi people at once began to try various ways to prepare and cook the seeds.

CSIRO forestry researcher Jock Morse made new seed collections of Acacia colei and other edible-seeded wattles working with the true experts, Aboriginal women from communities in the Australian deserts, whose culture spans more than 20,000 years of using such foods.

Happy to share their traditional knowledge, the Aboriginal women showed Jock how they harvested and processed wattle seeds so they were safe and palatable to eat.

"The Aboriginal experience in Australia gave us confidence that flour made from the seeds of Acacia colei could be incorporated into regular human diets in Africa," Mr Morse says.

Meanwhile Dr Chris Harwood of CSIRO's Australian Tree Seed Centre in Canberra coordinated nutritional tests on different wattle species. The seeds of Acacia colei were found to be a nutritious food containing 23 per cent crude protein, 53 per cent carbohydrate and 11 per cent fat.

With support and guidance from CSIRO, Nigerian researchers from Obafemi Awolowo University ran feeding trials with laboratory animals, and then at Maradi with human volunteers. These trials showed the seeds were safe to consume at rates up to 25 per cent of the human diet.

The volunteers rated the taste of foods made with a blend of wattle see flour and local grains to be very acceptable, and some villager now eat wattle seed flour as a part of their regular diet. This showed that wattle seeds could extend local grain supplies by as much as one quarter, and serve as a major food source in times of famine.

Dr Harwood also assisted the Australian-led Maradi Integrated Development Program at run by SIMAID (the relief and development arm of the non-government organisation SIM Australia), to research ways of increasing wattle seed production.

They found that with good management, young Acacia colei trees growing in semi-desert conditions can yield an average of up to two kilos of nutritious seed each year, starting only two years after planting. Although the trees only have a short life span, they produce valuable firewood and organic mulch, as well as seeds.

In the latest development, two Aboriginal women who have shared their traditional knowledge, will be sponsored by the Commonwealth Department of Primary Industries and Energy to fly to West Africa and exchange ideas and experiences with the people of Maradi. The trip is due to take place in March 1998.

They will bring back African recipes and methods of cultivating the wattle, and the two-way exchange might give a further boost to the rapidly-growing Australian native foods industry and cultivation of tree crops by Aboriginal communities, says Dr Harwood.

On World Food Day the close scientific and cultural links forged in the wattle seed project have been held up as an international model for co-operation in rural development, and the finding of innovative ways to help the 800 million people worldwide who currently do not have enough to eat.

More information:
Mr Jock Morse, Central Land Council 08 8952 9413
Dr Chris Harwood, CSIRO Forestry and Forest Products 02 6281 8243
Mr Steve Midgley, Australian Tree Seeds Centre, CSIRO 02 6281 8201
Mr Mick Crowe, CSIRO Forestry and Forest Products 02 6281 8357

BETACAM footage available from CSIRO 02 6281 8357