KENYA ALOE

WORKING GROUPExperience and Outlook

for Kenyan Aloes

Maria Dodds

Aloes are found naturally only in Africa and Arabia

There are over 480 different species and subspecies

Spread throughout the world due to their medicinal importance

Although many Aloes are known to be medicinal, some are toxic.

3 species in Kenya are known to be toxic

People all over Africa have been using different Aloe species for medicinal andveterinarian applications for centuries.

Aloe vera

thought to have originated in North Africa is probably the best known commercial cosmetic species and farmed in both the US and South America.

Aloe ferox

farmed commercially in South Africa

In Kenya,

the main species used

are:

Aloe secundiflora

Aloe turkanensis

Aloe scabrifolia

Predominantly exploited from the wild, very little plantation.

Aloe also used for rangelands rehabilitation, living fence, dry season livestock fodder.

Aloe vera is not indigenous to Kenya but is the largest globally exploited sps for large scale commercial cultivation; the main source of world’s aloe extracts

Aloe gels & bitters used mainly in pharmaceutical industries

Aloe gel - largest share of global trade, value US$25 billion, main source – USA. Others -South Africa, Venezuela, Haiti, Florida, Dutch Islands of Aruba and Bonaire.

All Aloe species (except A.vera) are listed on CITES Appendix II & a

few rarer species on Appendix I

KWS is the Kenyan CITES

management authority, assisted by NMK as the scientific authority

KAWG formed to help Kenya catch up in the Aloe sap industry and to ensure proper regulation.

KAWG played a major role in stimulating KWS to develop the policy on farming Aloes

Domestication: In light of the CITES the development of community propagation and cultivation schemes for the Aloe species is now encouraged and supported by some development agencies as a strategy to diverse commercial pressure from wild populations to sustainable plantations. (Cultivation and propagation guidelines for Aloe species being developed by KWS)

Sustainable Wild harvest: KWS has developed a licensing schemes for sustainable wild harvesting of cultivated plants under a regulatory framework. Sustainable wild harvest can be certified under organic and FSC NTFP standards, providing opportunities for access to premium international markets. National licensing could be developed in alignment with organic and FSC certification, thus providing producer incentive, and encouraging up-take.

Traditionally known and there is a large resource base

Drought resistant

Relative low skill requirement for processing.

Use for conservationDomestication can be

undertaken successfullyAloes products are well

known in external markets

Strong potential domestic and sub-regional markets

Potential for viable profit margin if value-added to meet market

specifications / as a competitive retail product

Technical knowledge available in Kenya

Strong international market for natural products.

Market studies show increasing trends

Market linkages with ethical Buyers are available

Demand for attractively retail packed and presented health and bodycare products is strong. Currently mostly imported.

National market for good quality indigenous body oils is huge, imported bodycare products could be replaced by bodycare products harvested, formulated and retail packed with more superior ingredients such as cape chestnut and pawpaw oil and fragranced with natural essential oils.

Aloe gum is the main extract sold. Most is sourced from the remote regions

Aloe sap is collected and sold to markets in the local towns (often 2-4 days before sale) for around Ksh30 - 100 for 5 litres of sap. No standardised quality control (based aloe sap viscosity)

Traders boiled aloe sap for 6-8 hours (On average 4 litres of sap results in 1kg of aloe gum).

Bulked & sold to traders and manufacturers in Kenya.

Example: Sold in Nairobi to export traders or small - medium scale

manufacturers for Ksh 85-200/kg. Then further processed as an ingredient in finished retail products (very small quantities), or exported (bulk).

International market buyers offer US$2,300 – 2,700/tonne for aloe gum, depending on the quality.

Most Aloe raw material is exported.

Lack of quality control and standards

Poor harvesting methods

compromise the quality

A lot of the land with natural Aloes is community land, benefit sharing issues.

Poor economies of scale, high initial investment and low returns on small acreages

Limited marketing and branding of Kenyan Aloes to compete with Aloe vera and Aloe ferox

Poor access to sufficient technical assistance/knowledge to successfully develop and manage aloe plantations as a commercial business

Poor/acre returns: Plantation at spacing of 1x1m (4,900 plants/acre) take 3 to 4 years to mature from nursery to harvesting. Sap yield on average is 50 ml per mature plant. This is (4900 x 50/ 1000) 245 litres sap/acre. 4 litres of sap, produces 1 kg of crude aloe gum = 82 kg/acre of crude aloe gum. Sold to dealers at Ksh 85 - 200kg. Cost-benefit differs between species:

Aloe turkanensis is faster maturity + higher in Aloin than Aloe secundiflora

Few commercial nurseries due mainly to the lack of & cost of licensed planting material. Takes about 10 months for seedlings to be ready for planting out.

Range is good, include soap, herbal tea, face and body creams and lotions. Most groups have very limited knowledge of value addition techniques and formulation is mostly poor, leading to low competitive potential

This is exacerbated by little access to attractive and effective packaging and promotional materials

Mostly using rudimentary equipment and non standardise methods.

There are no Aloe product standards, when products taken to the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KBS), standards for Neem are being used This is a problem for quality assurance but also marketing.

Lack of clear marketing & business management strategy

Critical quality points for value addition of aloe products• Immediate Stabilization: Aloe loses its healing virtues 4-6 hours after

harvested. Trim, clean, stabilize and seal the leaves/extract in 50 gallon drums within the first 2-6 hours after being cut.

• Carefully and Delicately Processed: no damage of the material at any time from field to bottle.

• Aloe gel should be processed to protect the biological structure of all the individual nutrients and balance of the aloe compound

• Never Heat: No applied heat should be used at any time. This protects the Aloe's biological integrity and biological activity.

• The majority of skincare products on the shop shelves in Kenya contain petroleum oils, parabens and other derivatives, synthetic colorants and preservatives. Don’t degrade your natural aloe product by adding them

Price guidelines in Kenya

Market price guide for aloe gum (aloe gum currently sold from Kenya at USD 2.50 to buyers in China), stabilized aloe juice with pulp, or crude aloe sap. concentrated aloe sap (bitters) with 22% aloin content and aloe powder.

Aloe gum – USD 2.20 to 3.00 / kg (on quality)Stabilized aloe juice - USD 1.30 to 2.50 / kgCrude aloe sap - USD 1.50 to 2.00 / kgConcentrated sap with 22% of aloin - USD 6.50 to 8.00 / kgConcentrated aloe sap with 40% aloin - USD 28 to 32 / kgAloe powder (aloe dry extract) - USD 4 to 6.50 / kg

No quality standard enforced in Kenya for retailed aloe products. The actual content of aloe in the products may be from less than 0.25% upwards. It is also results in poor consumer reception and interest as the product is not bio-active and has very little additional beneficial properties than any other cheap bodycare product. International Aloe Science Council (IASC): A non-profit regulatory agency that helps monitor Aloe quality and content in Aloe Vera products around the world. The proposed Kenya Aloe Council will provide a similar facility and services. The Aloe Ferox industry in South Africa has given rise to the Aloe Council in South Africa

THE KENYA ALOE COUNCILWill become a member driven organisation with different brackets

or bands of membership• Commercial • Research • Development • Producers• Suppliers• Processors

Some of the objectives• Comply to regulations and designations, and to buyer/market

specifications• Develop international certification standards that are

environmentally & socially supportive • Ensure high standards - efficient and effective operations• Take full advantage of branding and marketing opportunities• Testing, analysis and certification

By encouraging large scale farming

We can then attract

Investors in processing and exporting of finished products

Which would enable

Small holder farmers and communities to benefit more

Women's Aloegroup atRumuruti

Kilimanjaro Aloe Plantation

On 500 acres of rich fertile volcanic soil on the hot plains below Kilimanjaro Mountain. It is the first commercial Aloe plantation in Sub Sahara Africa. Produces retail aloe product range of soap, shampoo, creams and nutraceutical gel.

Aloe Ferox Company, SAAloe ferox is commercially cultivated and harvested from the wild in South Africa, mostly value added & retailed as

a product range in Africa & globally