Determining the commercial potential of a natural indigenous crop – the Zambian truffle

The Zambian truffle has not been marketed both locally and internationally despite the product’s high marketing prospects. This study was to assess the economic and nutritional values of the Zambian truffle, the marketing activities associated with it, the challenges local traders faced in selling it, its marketing prospects, its other uses and products from it and the strategies that could be employed to grow it. The major finding was that the product had high marketing prospects both in local and international markets. It also had high nutrition and economic values. From it, many products like spices, oil etc can be produced. It also has many uses such as for meals, flavours, seasoning, medicine as well as an export product. But local traders have found it difficult to sell the product even locally because the product was not known. Some suggestions were that the product needed the application of the Marketing mix elements and that there was need to identify a niche market for it. The product needed to be marketed well throughout the country to make it known and needed to be grown on larger scale, certified, processed, packaged and the distribution channels and road networks need to be improved.