South Africa - Umthathi Africulture Project, Grahamstown
South Africa - Umthathi Africulture Project
Located on the outskirts of Grahamstown, South Africa, where one in three people are now HIV positive, the Africulture Project consists of a one hectare training facility and nursery, specialising in the cultivation, processing and marketing of medicinal plants. This is a four year project developed in partnership with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and local training partner Umthathi - with funding by the UK Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) through the Darwin Initiative. The project also has strong institutional support from within South Africa, including the South Africa National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) and Rhodes University.
Plant compounds play an important role in modern medicine, forming the building blocks of many allopathic (formal) medicines. Many species are effective immune and appetite stimulants, vital for malnourishment, whilst others contain active properties that can ward off secondary infections. A key role of the project is to ensure that the latest information on any negative interactions between anti retro-virals and traditionally used plants is disseminated amongst traditional healthcare practitioners.
The hidden economy in medicinals is estimated at between $60-200 million each year, with more than 200,000 practising healers in the country. The market is largely informal and pricing does not reflect the demand for, and scarcity of, traded varieties. With 80% of the indigenous population relying solely on traditional medicines, many livelihoods are dependent on these natural resources. There is a need to optimise the market conditions for sustainability. Harvested by informal traders with few incentives for conservation management, 93% of the species studied are currently being harvested unsustainably, with 34 species under immediate threat. In partnership with Kew, quality control and an accessible guide to species will ensure that more people can check the quality of materials being traded and used, and traditional healthcare practitioners can be provided with the latest information to improve practices.
Of the traditional healers interviewed, 54% stated a patient increase in the past five years as a result of HIV/AIDS; 81% expected a further upsurge in the next five years. With a stretched allopathic health sector and over 70% unemployment in the target area, indigenous plants will continue to form an important part of primary health care, but only if raw materials can be delivered in sustainable quantities.
In such a fragile environment, the loss of this biological and cultural diversity presents a severe threat to community health in Southern Africa. Due to high mortality rates within indigenous communities, the knowledge about plant activities is being lost at an alarming rate. This project aims to restore this balance by establishing a valuable safety net in the heart of the Eastern Cape.
Training incorporates cultivation and sustainable harvesting from the wild, and will extend to agro-producers, and micro-nursery training and establishment to supply cultivated alternatives to local market traders. Methods promoted seek to advance conservation management through training with traditional healers and harvesters. The Africulture Project will enable poor and marginalised people to meet their basic needs - promoting both the sustainable use of genetic resources, and livelihood benefits for themselves and future generations – and also advocates on behalf of traditional health care practitioners, harvesters and traders to ensure that their rights are duly considered.
Project Collaborators
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Other GardenAfrica projects in South Africa
Living Classrooms: Sustainable Schools Project (SEED)
The Ntandabantu Women's Project in KwaZulu Natal
Soweto Clinics, Soweto
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Located on the outskirts of Grahamstown, South Africa, where one in three people are now HIV positive, the Africulture Project consists of a one hectare training facility and nursery, specialising in the cultivation, processing and marketing of medicinal plants. This is a four year project developed in partnership with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and local training partner Umthathi - with funding by the UK Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) through the Darwin Initiative. The project also has strong institutional support from within South Africa, including the South Africa National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) and Rhodes University.
Plant compounds play an important role in modern medicine, forming the building blocks of many allopathic (formal) medicines. Many species are effective immune and appetite stimulants, vital for malnourishment, whilst others contain active properties that can ward off secondary infections. A key role of the project is to ensure that the latest information on any negative interactions between anti retro-virals and traditionally used plants is disseminated amongst traditional healthcare practitioners.
The hidden economy in medicinals is estimated at between $60-200 million each year, with more than 200,000 practising healers in the country. The market is largely informal and pricing does not reflect the demand for, and scarcity of, traded varieties. With 80% of the indigenous population relying solely on traditional medicines, many livelihoods are dependent on these natural resources. There is a need to optimise the market conditions for sustainability. Harvested by informal traders with few incentives for conservation management, 93% of the species studied are currently being harvested unsustainably, with 34 species under immediate threat. In partnership with Kew, quality control and an accessible guide to species will ensure that more people can check the quality of materials being traded and used, and traditional healthcare practitioners can be provided with the latest information to improve practices.
Of the traditional healers interviewed, 54% stated a patient increase in the past five years as a result of HIV/AIDS; 81% expected a further upsurge in the next five years. With a stretched allopathic health sector and over 70% unemployment in the target area, indigenous plants will continue to form an important part of primary health care, but only if raw materials can be delivered in sustainable quantities.
In such a fragile environment, the loss of this biological and cultural diversity presents a severe threat to community health in Southern Africa. Due to high mortality rates within indigenous communities, the knowledge about plant activities is being lost at an alarming rate. This project aims to restore this balance by establishing a valuable safety net in the heart of the Eastern Cape.
Training incorporates cultivation and sustainable harvesting from the wild, and will extend to agro-producers, and micro-nursery training and establishment to supply cultivated alternatives to local market traders. Methods promoted seek to advance conservation management through training with traditional healers and harvesters. The Africulture Project will enable poor and marginalised people to meet their basic needs - promoting both the sustainable use of genetic resources, and livelihood benefits for themselves and future generations – and also advocates on behalf of traditional health care practitioners, harvesters and traders to ensure that their rights are duly considered.
Project Collaborators
- Royal Botanic Garden, Kew
- Umthathi Training Project
- South Africa National Biodiversity Initiative
- Rhodes University
Make a Donation to GardenAfrica
Other GardenAfrica projects in South Africa
Living Classrooms: Sustainable Schools Project (SEED)
The Ntandabantu Women's Project in KwaZulu Natal
Soweto Clinics, Soweto
<< Back to Countries where GardenAfrica operates list
