Throughout the tropics there are many indigenous fruit tree species (IFTs) planted in various agro ecological landscapes (Awodoyin et al., 2015). They are a source of food and supplement nutritional requirement for many people in rural areas (Stadlmayr et al., 2013). Driven primarily by market expansion and supply shortages (Simon and Leakey, 2004), they also provide great opportunity for farmers to increase family income through the sale of fruits. Inadvertently, these trees also provide other tree products, such as timber, fuelwood, fodder leaves, medicines and contribute to environmental and ecological services (Angelsen et al.,2014; Ofori et al., 2014). The natural resources of IFTs across the globe are gradually diminishing. Besides human activities such as felling and land clearing that continue to have negative impacts on present population sizes, high
extraction pressure inhibits population buildup casting fears on the severe loss of genetic variation. Furthermore, with many ex situ conservation methods considered impractical for tropical trees (Kindt and Lengkeek, 1999), on-farm populations, which are 'incipient' or 'semi' domesticates (Jamnadass et al., 2009), shall play a vital role in the conservation of IFT species (Simons et al., 2000; Leakey et al., 2007). Therefore, these populations must maintain a wide genetic base within populations to avoid inbreeding depression (Lowe et al., 2005), which can significantly impact fruit yield and quality, and secondly, to respond to changes in the environment for long-term survival (Reusch et al., 2005).