Mukau

Melia volkensii

A drought-tolerant deciduous tree native to Kenya's semi-arid eastern lowlands, related to neem and mahogany. Increasingly grown by smallholder farmers as a dryland cash timber crop.

Family: Meliaceae
Tree type: timber
Mature height (m): 10-20
Growth rate: fast
Lifespan (years): 40-80
Native region: Eastern Kenya drylands (Ukambani, Tsavo area)

Environment

Growing Conditions

Climate requirements: Semi-arid lowlands, roughly 400-1,600m altitude, with low rainfall of 400-900mm; well adapted to Kenya's ASAL agro-ecological zones.
Soil types: Well-drained sandy to loamy soils; tolerates relatively poor, shallow soils.
Water requirements: Low; strongly drought-tolerant once established, though young seedlings need watering to establish.

Cultivation

Planting & Care

Planting guide: Seed germination is notoriously poor, so it is normally propagated from root cuttings/wildings; planted at spacing of roughly 5-8m at the start of the rains.
Care guide: Relatively fast-growing for a dryland species; young stems are vulnerable to termite damage and require protection during establishment.

Phenology

Flowering & Fruiting

Flowering season: Shortly after the onset of rains
Fruiting season: Several months after flowering

Value

Uses & Economic Importance

Uses: Termite-resistant, high-quality timber for furniture, doors, and construction; increasingly substituted for scarcer natural-forest hardwoods.
Economic importance: Not endangered; actively promoted by KEFRI and NGOs as a commercial smallholder agroforestry/timber crop in Kitui, Makueni and Machakos counties, with a growing formal timber market.

Trade

Marketplace

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