Africa's "superfruit" arrives in the west
The
growing trend for healthy, nature-based products in the developed world, and the
more wealthy developing nations as well, is creating a potentially massive
demand for some of Africa's traditional health-giving produce. Tom Nevin
reports.
found at thefreelibrary.com
jan1, 2009
Natural products--food, cosmetics or alternative
medicines--are becoming increasingly popular with a new generation of
health-conscious consumers. These products most often draw on the traditional
knowledge of communities in Africa and more than ever are finding lucrative
markets in such developed economies as the US, Europe and the Far East.
One of the most exciting of these new generation products is the fruit of the
humble boabab tree which grows practially everywhere in Africa. The EU has now
given qualified approval for the fruit to be distributed and sold all over
Europe, thus opening up a potentially vast market for small-scale African
producers to exploit. "This is certainly good news for Africa," says
Cyril Lombard, PhytoTrade Africa's marketing manager, "because it
demonstrates the huge potential for Africa-wide supply of baobab."
PhytoTrade Africa was set up with
the support of the International Fund for
Agricultural Development (IFAD), a specialised agency of the UN that helps
micro-producers understand and exploit the value of their natural products and
the new interest they are generating. This allows them to promote beyond their
region and gain access to new markets.
In terms of commercial scope, the natural product market is already a big
business. Global sales for herbal remedies alone are expected to reach $40bn by
2010, and Africa is widely seen as the last untapped source for such remedies.
"Communities in many African countries traditionally use natural remedies
made from indigenous seeds and plants to cure ailments, and they have handed
down their knowledge from generation to generation," says Lombard.
"For example, harvesting nuts and seeds is a traditional activity across
the continent and an important supplement to incomes in areas of low
productivity, especially for women. But until now, ancestral remedies have been
available only in local markets."
Nutraceutical industry
PhytoTrade Africa is the commercial name used by the Southern African Natural
Products Trade Association. The membership-based organisation was established in
2001 with the support of a $1.5m technical assistance grant.
"The global market for cosmetics and nutraceuticals based on natural
products is growing rapidly," reports Lombard. "PhytoTrade Africa
works to create economic opportunities for poor rural communities in dry and
marginal areas by linking them to markets for their plant products.
"It works mainly with women, who harvest natural products such as wild
fruit and seeds from common woodlands. Most of the association's members are
small-scale entrepreneurs and civil society organisations involved in
transporting and processing the products and, increasingly, in exporting
them."
PhytoTrade is officially registered in Johannesburg, representing members from
small farming communities, local associations and institutes in Botswana,
Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The
association has recently opened a marketing office in London. "The work of
PhytoTrade Africa focuses on building value chains that connect harvesters with
markets, and on supporting and linking up market players along the value
chain," explains Lombard.
"In 2006, almost 30,000 rural harvesters--over 90% of them women--sold raw
or value-added plant materials to PhytoTrade Africa members for a total value of
$384,000, making a small but important contribution to building the economic
livelihoods of some of the poorest people in the region."
Who are the members of PhytoTrade Africa? "Its members are drawn from a
wide spectrum of players in the natural products industry," says the
organisation. "Its primary constituency is poor rural producers, but its
members also include NGOs, the private sector, researchers, government
departments and interested individuals.
"In joining PhytoTrade, each member has to formally sign the Association's
constitution, binding them to the fundamental objective: To enable poor rural
communities in the Southern African region to generate income through the
sustainable utilisation of natural products."
The new "superfruit"
PhytoTrade Africa expects huge markets for the baobab, Africa's
strangest-looking tree, to open up, now that the EU has approved the entrance of
baobab fruit pulp into the European market. Pulp from baobab fruit is used in
healthy cereal bars and drinks, mainly because its vitamin C content is nearly
six times greater than that of an orange. The baobab tree, best known for a
thick trunk that can reach a circumference of 25 metres, is also renowned in
Africa for its many nutritional and medicinal properties and its many uses for
beverages, food and oil. The bark of the tree is already being sold in Europe
under the name cortex cael cedra, used to treat fever. Some of PhytoTrade
Africa's partners are interested in the tree's properties. The French company
Aldivia is one of a number of enterprises specialising in supplying refined base
oils to the cosmetics industry. "Aldivia is investing in research to
develop a baobab pulp oil suitable for the cosmetics industry," says
Lombard.
The baobab's remarkable properties hit the headlines last year when it was
described as "a new superfruit", following its approval by the EU in
the Novel Foods category. Suddenly, producers and businesses from all over
Africa wanted in on the baobab trade.
He also sounds a note of caution. "The market for baobab fruit products is
currently embryonic and we're at the start of a long process to develop this
industry, both from a supply chain and technical perspective.
"Also, the conditions of the Novel Foods approval mean that the market in
the EU for baobab fruit products will be exclusively for members of PhytoTrade
Africa. In addition, the specifications are very tight and need to be complied
with in order to protect the European consumer.
"PhytoTrade will monitor the market and, in time, may be able to offer
producers in non-PhytoTrade countries opportunities, if the market demands
it."
The organisation also promotes marula oil, regarded as the new miracle oil in
cosmetics because of its nourishing and moisturising properties. It is already
commercialised as an ingredient at the Body Shop, one of the first cosmetics
companies to use natural ingredients in its range of products. "All the
lipsticks sold by the Body Shop use marula oil as a base ingredient," says
Lombard.
Marula oil is extracted from the kernel of the fruit of the marula tree, a
towering 18m savanna giant. Traditionally it is used to preserve meat, to
protect leather clothing and to treat and rehydrate skin and hair. The bark is
said to be effective against diarrhoea, dysentery, fever and malaria, and the
fruit is used to make jam and beer.
Other products promoted by PhytoTrade Africa include the Kalahari melon, whose
seeds are also used in cosmetics, and the products of the kigelia tree, which is
common throughout Africa and whose oil and seeds have long been known for their
dietary and medicinal properties, particularly in treating skin ailments.
PhytoTrade Africa and its partners are also undertaking research into the use of
mongongo oil, extracted from mongongo nuts, a staple food of the bushmen of
Botswana and Namibia. They are also considering the use of the mobula plum,
trichilia tree and ximenia fruit in health food and cosmetics.
"Products bearing the PhytoTrade label must ensure respect for biodiversity
and environmental sustainability and come with a biodiversity certificate,"
says Lombard. "To guarantee this condition, the association has been
working with partners, including the United Nations Conference on Trade and
Development to create an international organic classification for the products,
along the lines of the Fair Trade label."
Traditionally the marula is known colloquially in southern Africa's bushland
as host of the "elephants' annual party".
Many thousands of marula berries are shed at the end of the southern hemisphere
summer. Carpets of them ferment into a sticky, heady brew to be devoured in
great quantities by party-loving elephants that become quite boisterous and
unruly as a result. "Keep out of the way of grumpy elephants the day after
the party," locals advise.
Marula liqueur, a product of the mischievous berry, has become a wildly
successful South African export with thousands of cases sold globally every
year. Although still a long way behind Baileys, Amarula Cream liqueur is leading
the south African beverage industry into the international liqueur market.
COPYRIGHT 2009 IC Publications Ltd.
read also Acai Berry scam Before & After
Fraud Photos
africas superfruit