Transcript Products from East Africa - World Agroforestry Centre

Products
From East
Africa
Presented by
Joseph Bazambanza
Artemisia Annua East Africa Ltd
Artemisia Annua East Africa Ltd
(AAEA) Partnership network
By building a partnership network, AAEA shall seek to make joint contributions to
develop and promote personal, organizational and professional development in
meeting identified needs of industry and the community. AAEA shall also encourage
its partners to engage in dialogue and action with other members of the network.
Guidelines
1.
2.
3.
AAEA shall collaborate with other partners to provide training for professional
development, in an effort to increase consistency, avoid repetition and
unnecessary competition, increase cost-effectiveness, provide networking
opportunities.
AAEA shall seek to create linkages between local partners and organizations
sharing similar purposes and mission, for the purpose of sharing information,
strengthening institutional capacity, building alliances, and accessing
resources.
AAEA shall engage local partners in joint and mutual planning and evaluation
processes through which all parties collaboratively identify their own strengths,
prioritize the areas in need of improvement, and create their own action plans
to achieve the identified goals in a win-win situation.
Artemisia Annua East Africa Ltd
Partnership Framework
The key areas that we need to be
established are:
•A common set of objectives
•A clearly defined nature of the relationship between the partners
•A governance framework that defines roles and responsibilities
•An approach to Stakeholder involvement
•An approach for regular review
•A set of guiding principles and guidelines
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A story of A.annua in East Africa
Charles Kiruthi proudly gazes over his crop. “I used to grow fruits
And beans here,” he says with a smile, “but I will get a better return
from this plant. No pests attack it, and until harvesting time it
requires very little labour.”
Kiruthi, who owns a 10-acre farm in Kiambu in Kenya’s Central
province, is one of hundreds of farmers across the country who
Have been contracted to grow the Artemisia annua plant.
The plant has been grown on a small scale by private companies
And research institutions in East Africa for over 10 years, but
Operations have been scaled up rapidly since 2004, in response to
fears of a global shortage of artemesinin.
Source: www.IRINnews.org
Growers of A.annua plant in East
Africa
In East Africa, farmers are reported to be very interested in growing
the new cash crop, especially because the coffee market is so slow.
In Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda the project is being spearheaded by
East African Botanicals, which provides seedlings and supports both
large- and small-scale farmers in a bid to rapidly increase the volume
of plants.
“We have been growing Artemisia annua here at the university
since 2002,” said Fidensio Ndegwa, chief technician at the School of
Health Sciences at Kenyatta University. “We have also been working
with local farmers to increase acreage – we have sold around 10,000
seedlings. We have been researching the plant and its properties for
over 10 years and have learned a great deal. We know it contains
very valuable ingredients, and yet we are unable to find anyone to
sell it to.
Source: www.IRINnews.org
Unrewarded efforts of
individual growers
While the benefits of the project are self-evident, there are
worrying indications that the coordination of the partners
involved in the vital crusade to boost the supply of artemisinin
is somewhat lacking. Despite the clamour surrounding the
shortage of the valuable plant, it seems that in some cases
efforts to grow it are going unrewarded, and even unnoticed,
by the major players in the fight against malaria.
“There is a farmer in Thika [in Central province] who has
2,000 seedlings and around 65 kilograms of leaf, but there
isn’t a market for it,” Ndegwa said, shaking his head. “It’s
very confusing, as we know there are people suffering all over
Africa. We know this plant is the key, but it’s just going to
waste.”
Source: www.IRINnews.org
Whole-leaf A.annua-based drugs
Further studies aim to characterise key constituents that
contribute to the anti-malarial activity of A. annua,
leading to a selection of appropriate varieties or hybrids
based on the optimum constituents of artemesinin and
other key compounds.
Prof. Hassanali of ICIPE is hopeful that this will allow
a detailed business plan for large-scale planting and
commercial production to be put in place for further
production of whole-leaf A. annua-based drugs.
Source: ‘New Agriculturist’ online Based on article written by Naftali Kure
Whole leaf A.annua may provide an
alternative solution
Research on a drug based on the whole leaf of A. annua may
provide an alternative solution. Scientists at ICIPE, collaborating
with the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) and the
Natural Uwemba System for Health (NUSAG), a Tanzanian
NGO, have been working to provide a cheaper yet efficacious
malaria treatment.
To make the whole-leaf drug, leaves are ground to a very fine
powder and thoroughly mixed, which has proved effective in
ensuring that each tablet has a standard dose of the drug.
Source: ‘New Agriculturist’ online Based on article written by Naftali Kure
Proof-of-concept study results
A proof-of-concept study, which commenced in June
2004 and ended in February this year, has yielded encouraging
results. Clinical studies involving 48 patients with uncomplicated
malaria have shown the whole-leaf drug to have impressive
efficacy in treating the disease with no significant side effects.
The source plants being used by the team are grown in Arusha,
and, encouragingly for African farmers, have been shown to yield
a higher concentration of artemisinin than Chinese plants.
Ongoing research will hopefully discover how growing
conditions affect concentration level.
Source: ‘New Agriculturist’ online Based on article written by Naftali Kure
Extracted artemisinin from a
Novartis partner
Novartis partners with East African Botanicals to expand cultivation and
extraction of natural ingredient used in anti-malarial Coartem® Contracts
To purchase extracted artemisinin stimulate cultivation of more than 1,000
hectares of Artemisia annua in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
"Novartis has proven to be our most important partner as we move to
large-scale production of artemisinin in East Africa," said Patrick Henfrey,
CEO of Advanced Bio Extracts (ABE). The main operating entities of
ABE are African Artemisia (AA) operating in Tanzania, East African
Botanicals Kenya and East African Botanicals Uganda. "By placing firm
orders for extracted artemisinin, providing financial support for
infrastructure improvements, and Delivering technical support and knowhow, Novartis has made a major contribution to creating a sustainable
market for this key natural ingredient.“
Source: Novartis Media Releases 06/06/2005
A field of Artemisia annua in Kenya
the
AAEA ltd contact
Joseph Bazambanza
[email protected]