At the mention of Ocimum kilimandscharicum, many people will not have an immediate recollection or even know what it is. But in Kakamega County in Kenya, this shrub, commonly known as monyi in the local language, is a source of livelihood. The herb found in the Kakamega tropical rain forest; Kenya's only tropical rainforest and is which said to be Kenya's last remnant of the ancient Guineo-Congolian rainforest that once spanned the continent. It is used for the treatment of body rashes, managing pimples, clear congested chests, treat snake bites among other ailments. To extract the oil, which is used as a medicinal product, the leaves are crushed.
SWITCH Africa Green programme worked with the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) worked with Muliru Enterprises and Muliru Farmers Conservation Group in a project: up-scaling sustainable commercial production of medicinal plants to transform the on-going community-based commercial production of medicinal plants and derived products at the forest into small and medium-sized green social enterprises so as to enhance livelihood improvement and environmental conservation. Both local enterprises are situated at the fridges of the Kakamega forest. This was done through promoting sustainable cultivation of medicinal plants through participation in planning and stakeholder meetings, participatory baseline assessment, training workshops in improved management and sustainable production and marketing. The project also supported the identification of problems and opportunities and reviewing the range of medicinal plants and products, cultivation and postharvest handling of medicinal plants, and the improvement of processing and manufacturing.
Muliru Enterprise implemented sustainable consumption and production practices promoted by the project, which involved recycling of waste from processed medicinal plant material at their facility. The waste material was used as organic manure with over 2750kg of waste material being used by community members as organic manure in this period.
To improve and optimize on sustainable energy consumption and production at their processing facility towards promotion of improved SCP practices the enterprise was supported by SWITCH Africa Green. Muliru uses a hydro-distillation processing equipment that requires heat energy to heat the Ocimum kilimandscharicum plant material immersed in water for extraction of essential oils, where liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is used for heating. The MSME installed a solar water heating system which is now being used to preheat the water for the hydro-distillation process. This has led to 50% reduction in the use of LPG and reduction in costs of production by about 32%.
“We are engaging the communities in conserving Kakamega forest through the promotion of commercial cultivation of indigenous, traditional and medicinal plants,” says James Ligare, the project manager of Muliru Farmers Limited. “This is an employment opportunity for the community.”
The project supported Muliru farmers to enhance health and safety practices in production and processing of medicinal plants. The enterprise has since adopted the use of health and safety sticker signs including hazard warning safety signs, prohibition safety signs, mandatory safety signs, and safe condition safety signs. A range of 27 different types of health and safety sticker signs have been produced and placed at appropriate positions in their processing facility. The project also developed simple step by step toolkits in the local language.
The enterprise brought together over 2,400 school children and over 3,600 adult community members to learn about biodiversity conservation, and sustainable consumption and production knowledge and practices. Members of the MSMEs around, are able to pull large crowds for sensitization sessions that include organic farming, on-farm agro-forestry, domestication of medicinal plants, environmental monitoring, and biodiversity and environmental conservation. The sensitization is done through audio-video shows and community gatherings. In addition, the Muliru Enterprise raised over 23,000 species of indigenous medicinal plants for reforestation and establishment of individual farmer wood loads.
The Muliru Enterprise generated over Ksh. 1,130,000 (USD 11,300) from sale of 200 kgs of Ocimum kilimandscharicum essential oil for production of Apicure; a spin-off product. In addition, the enterprise received Ksh. 403,194 (USD 4, 0310) from sale of finished medicinal plant products, contributing to an impressive revenue for the enterprise.
“We have now, this plant as a cash crop. They use and they bring it to us to process it into a finished product and we pay them,” James adds. “Green practices are very important, and these can really assist the communities to have an economy that is sustainable and an economy which can assist even the generations to come.”
Muliru enterprise created employment opportunities for 12 community members: three men, four women and five youths. In addition, the enterprise has unified the members as they shared their life experiences which led to changes at both individual and enterprise level in the adoption of SCP practices.
“Thanks to the additional money, I could buy sheep and was able to renovate the kitchen” says Veronica Arunga, one of the smallholder farmers living adjacent to Kakamega rain forest that is under big economic pressure from the local community
Muliru has faced challenges just like any enterprise. These include constrains in production capacity of medicinal plants products due to lack of adequate equipment, high expectations from participating members, enough capital in implementation of the sustainable consumption and production practices at manufacturing level, and lack of understanding in the practices.
That notwithstanding, Muliru plans to improve on the sales and marketing operations of medicinal plant products through adoption of sustainable consumption and production practices and developing partnerships with the Kakamega County Government in project implementation. The enterprise also plans to showcase sustainable consumption and production best practices in different forums including agricultural shows, workshops and seminars, and improve the facilities, equipment, technology and operations at the Muliru community enterprise for efficient production and operations.
