Southern Africa is one of the poorest regions in the world. Millions of families, survive on less than US$100 a year, particularly in remote rural areas. Agriculture has not succeeded in alleviating this poverty: partly because much of the region suffers from low rainfall and poor soil, and partly because many people are too poor to afford seeds, tools and fertilisers.
At the same time, Southern Africa is rich in biodiversity. Its indigenous plants – more than 30,000 species - are well adapted to harsh environmental conditions, and produce fruits, oils, herbal remedies and nutritional supplements that Africans have used for centuries. Yet these products are as yet little known elsewhere in the world.
PhytoTrade Africa believes that these natural products represent a genuine opportunity to drive economic growth in the region and to improve the life of people in poor rural areas. Globally, the market for natural products is significant and growing. In 2001, world trade exceeded US$45 billion. Although Southern Africa is still a minor player, the full scale of the opportunity has yet to be explored. And it is an opportunity accessible to even the most marginalised communities since natural products grow in abundance in the wild.
We know from experience that rural families can double their income by harvesting and selling natural products from their local woodlands. Increasing annual income from $100 to $200 may not seem like much, but it can make the difference between feeding the family or going hungry; between sending children to school or leaving them uneducated; between getting medical attention for a sick relative or leaving them untreated. It matters.
According to a report by the Natural Resources Institute at the University of Greenwich, UK, the natural products industry has the potential to deliver life changing income to over 14 million households in Southern Africa. Assuming a minimum of four people in each household, that means 60 million people or more could live an easier and happier life.
That is why PhytoTrade Africa does what it does. Click here to read real life stories of how the natural products industry changes lives in Southern Africa.
An added benefit is that developing the natural products industry also helps to protect the environment and biodiversity of Southern Africa. When people know that they can make money every year from the fruit of wild trees, those trees become valuable to them. The result is that communities are much more likely to protect their local forests and stop clearing the trees for crops or firewood, which in turn helps to conserve the local ecosystem of animal and plant life.
PhytoTrade Africa: Economic development. Environmental protection.
Click here to find out how the natural products industry is changing lives.