Medicinal Aromatic Plants improve livelihoods in Kenya.

 A project developing medicinal products from plants found in Kakamega forest, western Kenya, has transformed the livelihoods of nearby communities over the past few years. A powder developed from one of the plants is used as a revitalizer, appetizer and clearer of hangovers. A group of farmers who have domesticated the highly threatened MAP, known locally as mkombela (mondia whytei), used to collect and sell the roots locally. Another group of farmers are involved in the domestication of the MAP ocimum kilimandscharicum. A leaf extract from the plant is used in the manufacture of a balm and an ointment used to treat flu, cold, chest congestion, aches, pain and insect bites. “We believe the project has a major role to play as a model for conservation or biodiversity and in the improvement of the livelihoods of communities living near the forest,” Wilber Lwande, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) leader of the applied bioprospecting programme, and “it is also one of the ways of enabling indigenous traditional knowledge to be useful to humankind before [that knowledge] is entirely lost.”

Communities living near the forest relied on it for firewood, building materials and various herbs. However, since commercial cultivation and processing of the medicinalproducts began about eight years ago, reliance on the forest has decreased, allowing better forest conservation. 

Community enterprise

 James Ligare, assistant administrator of the Mondia community enterprise, said a group of 30 farmers, known as the Muliro Farmers, were involved in the initial domestication of the mondia plant, which takes six months to mature. These farmers have since encouraged outgrowers to cultivate the plant, which is processed in a factory built with financial assistance from international donors. “The farmers harvest the plant three times a year and most say they earn more from mondia than they did cultivating crops like maize and tea,” Ligare said. “On average, a farmer makes TSh35 000-40 000 [US$437-500 ] when they cultivate the plant on a small plot, ranging from an eighth to half an acre.” 

Bioprospecting 

Furthermore, the bioprospecting programme had raised the status of the communities involved. Those who previously lived in grass-thatched houses now have better homes; and awareness about environmental conservation has improved and many of the local people are seeking computer and business management skills in efforts to improve production. Bioprospecting was increasingly being recognised for its potential to uplift economies. Effective bioprospecting, he said, would allow African nations to have a stake in the global industry of naturally derived products. Other projects are helping communities living near coastal forests to undertake the commercial collection and processing of seeds from the Neem tree and the Aloe plant. Neem (azadirachta indica) thrives in the semi-arid region of Kwale, while the Aloe plant is cultivated by communities near Shimba hills forest. Neem oil and other Neem plant-based products are used in the manufacture of medical, cosmetic, pesticidal and agricultural products. The Aloe plant is used in making soap. Lwande estimated that up to 30 000 Kenyans benefit from the bioprospecting and conservation projects undertaken with ICIPE’s help in Kenya’s western and coastal provinces.