The goriba is the Hausa name for a well-known palm in the Sahelian area of West Africa often referred to as Doum palm or called gingerbread tree. Apart from West Africa, the goriba grows well in many countries throughout the African continent like in Egypt, Central Africa, Kenya, Egypt, and Sudan. In Niger Republic it grows in the southern part of the country where the groundwater table is high. However the goriba doesn''t like waterlogging. On the other when it comes to bushfire it resists very well. [1]
The goriba palm provides in many uses. One of the parts that is used a lot are the leaves. It provides leaves for making mats, baskets, ropes, etc. The fruit can be eaten raw or it is used to make juice off. The seed can also be eaten raw. In Niger when it is harvesting season you can easily find children cutting the fruits open and selling the seeds.
[1] "Factsheet: Hyphaene thebaica". AgroForestryTree Database. World Agroforestry Centre. Archived from the original on 2014-03-02. Retrieved 2014-02-25.
