Harvesting the products of the bountiful marula

For thousands of years, Southern African communities have used the bark, leaves, fruit and kernels of the marula tree for their medicinal and nutritional properties. Martin Rust spoke to Magda du Toit about how his family is exploiting this multi-faceted resource, which occurs naturally on their farm in northern Namibia.

- Magda du Toit

Ghaub farm, near Tsumeb in the northern part of Namibia, is the epitome of a mixed farming operation. Here, the Rust family run a game farm, raise cattle and grow vegetables and citrus. Moreover, they have recently begun capitalising on the fruit of the marula trees that grow wild on their land.

Martin Rust's parents, Joachim and Caroline, bought Ghaub in 2016.

"At the time, our primary focus was ecotourism, but we've since expanded into agriculture. The idea is to produce as much as possible of the food we need for our tourism operation.

"Under the label Ghaub Farm Products, we started producing beef and game meat, milk, and eggs, as well as providing braai wood for our lodges. Our vegetable production began in 2019, and we're now harvesting lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, beans, and carrots on a regular basis for our lodges at Ghaub and Waterberg Wilderness Private Nature Reserve.

"We also planted citrus trees and are always investigating new things to add to our product line and our guests' experiences," explains Rust. The indigenous marula tree (Sclerocarya birrea) is a botanical landmark on Ghaub. The high protein and vitamin C content of the fruit make the marula one of the most important indigenous fruit trees in Southern Africa. In fact, archaeologists have established that these trees have been a source of food for the region's human population for millennia.

The marula, with its scaly bark and rounded crown, can grow to between 15m and 18m in height. On Ghaub, the fruit ripens between January and March.

Rust says his mother had long wanted to put the marula trees on their farm to good use.

"We have so many, and recently started making a variety of farm products from the fruit. We're also exploring ways to expand our product line and increase our volume."