Nutrecul Agroforestry Project

The botanists P. Staner & A. Corbisier together with Professor G. Gilbert at the Laboratory of Tropical Forestry, UC Louvain-la-Neuve Belgium started cultivating the Treculia at the Botanic Gardens of Eala Zaire at the end of 1924. During the period from 1930 to 1962, research was conducted at The National Institute for Agronomy in the Belgian Congo (Institut National pour l'Etude Agronomique du Congo Belge or INEAC).

During the years 1974, 1976 and 1977, the Flemish Father Jacques Bijttebier of the Scheut Missionaries had the opportunity to live for many months in the area of the Catholic Mission of Lokalema (Zaïre), and more particularly in the Pygmy villages situated downriver on the Zaire,(Congo), facing Lisala. He was able to gather there a lot of original information regarding the Treculia. For more than 30 years he studied and selected, together with the Flemish Sister Paula Trio, the best varieties of the Treculia in Pendjua in the north of Bandundu Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 1974 Father Jaqcues Bijttebier, (under the guidance of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and UNESCO), mapped the dissemination area of the Treculia in Africa.

During the period from 1974 to 1993 Father Jaqcues Bijttebier worked closely with;

• Prof. L.O.J. De Wilde, Section Tropical Regions, the Faculty of Agronomy R.U.Gent
• Rev. Father G. Nollet, Missionary of Scheut
• Rev. Father P. Van Den Bosch, Missionary of Scheut
• Rev. Father Dr. G. Noë, the Society of Jesus
• The Ministry of Cooperation for Development (Belgium)
• Dr. Sc. E.L. Adriaens, the Ministry of Agriculture (Belgium)
• Ir. F.-X. Buysse, The Laboratory of the State Research Station for cattle-feeding at Melle-Gontrode (Belgium)
• Dr. Ir. J. Coosemans, Laboratory of Phytopathology and Plant Protection, K.U.Leuven
• Ir. R. De Lathouwer, the Laboratory of the A.S. Vandermoortele
• Prof. Dr. Ir. J. D’Hoore, the Laboratory of Soil-Genesis and Soil-Geography, K.U.Leuven
• Prof. G. Gilbert at the Laboratory of Tropical Forestry, U.C. Louvain-la-Neuve
• Prof. Dr. Ir. A. Pieters, Section Tropical Forestry of the Faculty of Agronomy of Lovanium (Zaïre)
• Dr. Sc. R. Remmerie, K.U.Leuven
• Prof. M. Vanbelle, The Laboratory of Biochemistry of Nutrition, U.C. Louvain-la-Neuve
• Dr. Ir. R. Van Droogenbroeck, K.U.Leuven

In 1978 Father Jaqcues Bijttebier wrote an article "Essais de panification avec des farines "non panifiables",[1] about his bake tests using Treculia flour. In the 1980s Prof. Hugo Gevaerts was teaching at the Faculty of Science in Kisangani, where he met Prof. Jean DeClerck. He told Prof. Jean DeClerck about agro-breeding programs and the remaining work to do. While their contact was growing, they met Father Jaqcues Bijttebier, who talked about a tree that could be a solution to malnutrition. In 1992, Father Jacques Bijttebier published a paper in which he describes the properties and nutritional value of this plant.[2][3] Father Jacques Bijttebier died, at the age of 66, on May 27, 1993 in Leuven (Belgium).

After Father Jaqcues Bijttebier died, Sister Paula Trio remained in contact with the coordinator Jean DeClerck. They learned that Sister Paula Trio would definitely leave Pendjua. Prof. Jean DeClerck requested that Treculia-seeds from the best varieties (still in pulp), be brought over with her on her last return trip from Belgium. (N.B the germination of the Treculia seeds is extremely short). Sister Paula Trio then brought +-400 seeds with her, which Prof. Jean DeClerck immediately divided amongst the involved Universities and also the Botanical National Garden of Meise (Belgium). These seeds were germinated fast and after six weeks became trees of +-15 cm. Prof. Jean Lejoly (Ulb) wanted to save 100 of them to undertake research participated in with Zairian, (Congolese), scientists, L. Ndjele & JP Mate. Prof. Hugo Gevaerts brought the 300 young trees he had left on his travel to Kisangani in 1995, where they immediately and carefully were planted at the University.

Appreciation for this plant as a fruit tree really started thanks to Project Rotary International "Project Agro-forestry 3-H", an initiative of Professors Jean DeClerck (formerly a visiting professor at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Kisangani), Jean LeJoly, (Professor at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, Laboratoire de Botanique), and Hugo Gevaerts, (former dean of the Faculté des Sciences, UNIKIS and professor at the Limburg University Centre). These three professors have, together with their colleagues from the University of Kisangani, (Leopold Ndjele, Valentin Kamabu and Jean-Pierre Mate), been inspired by the important results of the work of Father Bijtebier to encourage that this tree be adopted by the population of Kisangani. This project, Agro-forestry 3-H, ran from 1995 to 1998. In this period several plantations were laid out and there were thousands of plants distributed to the population. Various wars of recent years have prevented the normal development of this project.[4]

Fortunately, in 1998 the "Project LUC", (Limburg University Centre), led by Professor Hugo Gevaerts was created. This project devoted much attention to the popularization of this "miracle plant" under the Agro-forestry project.[5]

In 2004, the Foundation Maisha planted, in cooperation with researchers from the Universities of Kisangani and Leuven K.U.L (Belgium), the Treculia Africana tree in Lubumbashi to nourish the street children. Later also, the Université de Kinshasa planted trees on their University Campus.

In the spring of 2012 the horticulturist Jean Kiala came in contact with the Flemish bakery consultant Guido Lasat, who was a close friend of Father Bijtebier who had worked with him in the '70s to early '90s. This man talked about the potential in the bakery industry and advocating starting a plantation. In 2012 the Belgian CICM Missionaries and the Flemish bakery consultant Guido Lasat entrusted to managing director Jean Kiala an old agro-forestry project of the late Father Jacques Bijttebier in the rainforest of the D.R. of the Congo. The idea being to create a network of agricultural cooperatives so that farmers can get a fair price for their crop. Guido Lasat died in March 2013.

In 2012, Jean Kiala did his research on the Treculia and selected the best varieties from Africa. On the advice of the Belgian Fathers, he collected many distinct plant cuttings and seeds, and placed them on tissue culture in five laboratories in Africa and Europe. Later destroyed the test fields in the forest, just to be sure no Western company would monopolize the project. He managed to collect 15 cultivars coming directly from Father Bijttebier’s testing fields. By the end of the year, the Nutrecul Agro-forestry Project was created. Nutrecul is a contraction of Nutrition Treculia or Nutritive Trees Cultivation.

Because director Jean Kiala received death threats from the Western Seed & Nutrition lobby.[6] As of May 5, 2014, the project merged with the AWDF to ensure the development of the innovative tropical forest conservation project Nutrecul.[7]