Products From East Africa

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Products From East Africa

• Presented by
• Joseph Bazambanza
• Artemisia Annua East Africa Ltd

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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
• 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. 

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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

AAEA ltd Services and Coordination
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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
  Kenyas 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

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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

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Unrewarded efforts ofindividual 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
• isnt a market for it, Ndegwa said, shaking his
  head. Its
• very confusing, as we know there are people
  suffering all over
• Africa. We know this plant is the key, but its
  just going to
• waste.
• Source www.IRINnews.org

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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

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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

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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

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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 know-
• how, Novartis has made a major contribution to
  creating a sustainable
• market for this key natural ingredient.
• Source Novartis Media Releases 06/06/2005

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A field of Artemisia annua in Kenya
the
the
AAEA ltd contact Joseph Bazambanza artemisiaannua_at_
inbox.com