The purpose of this research was to assess the socio-economic importance of two indigenous
fruit trees: Strychnos cocculoides and Schinziophyton rautanenii in Mile 20 village, Rundu
rural West constituency, Kavango region, Namibia. Specifically, the study assesses the
contributions of indigenous fruits to household’s cash income and the reduction to food
insecurity. The study used an emergent, exploratory, inductive qualitative approach where
semi- structured interview, observation and self-designed household survey questionnaire
were used for primary data collection. The researchers also conducted documents review and
also collected qualitative information from forestry experts in the Kavango region to
complement the other methods. To get the targeted sample from the three hundred household
population, the village was stratified into four zones of North, South, East and West. Simple
random sampling was used to select thirty-one households from all the zones. The result of
the study indicate that the majority of the rural households in Mile 20, Rundu rural West
constituency, benefits from the consumption and the sale of Indigenous fruit trees (IFs). More
than one benefit is obtained from the sale of indigenous fruits and generating cash income
essential for purchasing the required households goods. Some of the important benefits
indentified included paying school fees for their children and other dependents, purchasing
livestock such as goats, sheep, cattle, and pay hospital bills for family members. The results
also show that the IF contributes positively to food security especially during the periods of
food shortages and poor harvesting years. Households’ members have experienced changes in
their livelihood and wellbeing as a result of the income generated from the sale of indigenous
fruits.