Red acacia

Chad is one of the main producers of gum arabic – most of its output is the brittle talha gum from the red acacia.

An acacia growing to 10–15 m, with distinctive smooth bark ranging from creamy white to orange-red and covered in a powdery bloom. It has pairs of long, straight white thorns and round, golden-yellow flower heads, and its pods are narrow and sickle-shaped. It grows on clay plains of the savanna that flood seasonally. Resin oozing from its trunk yields talha gum – cheaper than gum from the gum arabic tree, but widely used in the food industry.

Significance in the country

Alongside oil and livestock, gum arabic is one of Chad’s most important exports, and harvesting it provides work for thousands of families in the Sahel. Stands of red acacia stretch in a broad belt across the middle of the country, from around Lake Chad to Salamat.

Where it grows

In the Sahel and savanna belt of central Chad – from around Lake Chad and Kanem through Batha, Guéra and Hadjer-Lamis to Salamat and Ouaddaï.

More: Wikipedia (en)