Africa is the world’s largest top producer of frankincense, which has been collected and traded by rural communities in the Horn of Africa for generations, providing livelihoods for millions of people. The study seeks to answer; what function do Boswellia species play in terms of livelihood income, and how do pastoralists and agro pastoralist contribute to the degradation or restoration of Boswellia species? What could be the possible management intervention for sustainability of Boswellia species? The checklist of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) was used to determine for the selection of study articles. The present literature on Boswellia species in the Horn of Africa is identified, selected, and critically reviewed. Academic search engines such as Web of Science Direct, JSTOR, Google Scholar, and Research Gate were utilized to discover relevant papers on Boswellia species using research terms and restrictions. A total of 119 references were found, however only material published between 2000 and 2021 was chosen, resulting in the selection of 73 publications for full text analysis. According to the findings, 21% of the 73 studies chosen focused on economic contribution, 39% on management methods, and 40% on sustainability. It can be concluded that Boswellia species play an important role in the livelihood of pastoral and agro pastoral communities in dryland areas, with low skills in production, harvesting, handling, and value addition, and are facing heavy exploitation and regeneration problems, and is at risk of extinction.

Keywords: Boswellia, household income, livelihood, management practices, regeneration