Indian help to Eastern Africa farmers to grow medicinal and aromatic plants

As the leading grower of medicinal and aromatic plants in the world, India has offered its traditional knowledge and expertise in the field to the Eastern Africa Farmers Federation (EAFF), apex organization of farmers of 10 countries of the region.

“Herbal medicine is a big area of activity in Eastern Africa, particularly in Tanzania and Uganda but we lack logistics, expertise and technology. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has assured us of all kind of assistance in growing medicinal and aromatic plants and also help us in finding market in India,’’ Stephen Muchiri, Chief Executive of EAFF, who is currently on a visit to India, said. He held a meeting with CSIR Director-General Dr. Girish Sahni last week and told him that EAFF would bring a delegation within next couple of months and formalize the understanding with an agreement before this year-end.

Muchiri said that Zanzibar in Tanzania had a lot of farmers who were growing spices and herbs but there was no process of standardization. “We can start production but we will need latest expertise and research as well as quantifying  the process as to how many plants were needed to get how  much quantity of extracts useful for medicinal and aromatic purposes,’’ he added.

Muchiri’s latest visit to India came close on the heels of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to four African nations, including Kenya and Tanzania. As the EAFF is headquartered in Nairobi and farmers under EAFF umbrella are already involved in growing and exporting pulses to India, Muchiri came on a follow-up visit to explore newer areas of agricultural and horticultural cooperation with India. With the NDA government’s thrust on expanding economic ties with African nations, EAFF aims to benefit from it and also get its farmers educated about getting quality seeds and technology. 

“We have fertile and productive land in Africa and our member-farmers are producers of crops, livestock, fisheries and agro-forestry and they mostly use organic fertilizers. Our biggest challenge in agriculture is fragmentation of farmers. Our role is to voice legitimate concerns and interests of farmers of the region and build their capacities and find right kind of partnerships,’’ the EAFF CEO said. The organizations’  members are spread across Rwanda, Uganda, Ethiopia, Burundi, Tanzania, South Sudan, Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea and Kenya.

As CSIR has National Botanical Research Institute and Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, both based in Lucknow, CSIR chief Dr. Sahni assured the EAFF that required technology and expertise were available with it and the organization would be ready to render all help to African farmers in the area. “We will follow up on the Prime Minister’s recent Africa visit and seize the initiative to engage with the farmers of the region and help them in areas where they need our expertise most,’’ Dr. Sahni added.

According to the Ministry of AYUSH, India has 15 Agroclimatic zones and 17000-18000 species of flowering plants of which 6000-7000 are estimated to have medicinal usage in folk and documented systems of medicine, like Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homoeopathy.  About 960 species of medicinal plants are estimated to be in trade of which 178 species have annual consumption levels in excess of 100 metric tones.

The domestic trade of the AYUSH industry is of the order of Rs 80 to 90 billion. The Indian medicinal plants and their products also account for exports worth Rs. 10 billion annually, according to the AYUSH ministry.  

There is global resurgence in traditional and alternative health care systems resulting in world herbal trade which stands at US$ 120 billion and is expected to reach US$ 7 trillion by 2050.  Indian share in the world trade, at present, however, is quite low. The National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB) was set-up by the government in 2000 and  has the primary mandate of coordinating all matters relating to medicinal plants and support policies and programmes for growth of trade, export, conservation and cultivation.