Noah Cheploen
20 November 2007
Nairobi — The only aloe processing factory in Kenya lies dormant at Koriema, Baringo District, due to a dispute over its control.
Baringo Aloe Bio-enterprise project was commissioned by the European Union early last year.
The EU invested Sh10.5 million in the project, which at one time was touted to be a solution to the poverty in the semi-arid region.
However, suspicion among interested parties has stalled the project.
The excitement that accompanied the construction of the factory has turned to anxiety and disappointment for residents most of who domesticated the wild plant expecting huge returns.
Local leaders and a private investor, brought on board by the Government to help solicit market for its products, are haggling over the control of the firm.
Local community
The firm's establishment was meant to legalise the export of aloe extract to pharmaceutical companies.
However, this dream might take a little longer to be realised if the current state of affairs persists.
A big area of Baringo District is under the arid and semi arid lands (ASALS) and the residents depend on livestock. But it is the aloe that might turn out to be their gold mine.
The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and the Kenya Forest Research Institute (Kefri) are key partners in the project. The two organisations were expected to provide the regulatory responsibility and carry out research.
"We want farmers to plant more because we cannot sustain the factory if farmers harvest plants in the bush. In fact, this is an endangered plant that we need to protect," said an officer at the site, who wished not be named.
The plant also has nutritional value besides being an important component for both pharmaceuticals and cosmetic industry.
There are more than 240 species in the dry lands in Africa, Asia, Europe and America.
Management team
The Baringo community is currently "managing" the factory and plans to install a management team once the factory is up and running.
Chairman David Chemwotei says: "The project belongs to the community and nobody else, so the investor should abide by our demands, or we will get another partner and stop him from playing any other role," he said.
The residents claim they are the rightful owners of the project, but government officials maintain that a third party has to be included to help play the role of marketing the business and the products.
Mr Chemwotei said the group refused to a sign a memorandum of understanding with the investor because "he prepared it alone to suit his interests".
There are several varieties of aloe in Baringo, Koibatek, Turkana and Samburu districts. The plant is also found in parts of Kieni and Nanyuki.
District commissioner Hassan Farah, who is also the chairman of the district development committee, has promised to call a stakeholders' meeting to resolve the stalemate.
The administrator said that the biggest challenge was on the side of the farmers to satisfy the required capacity to ensure that the factory remains operational once it opens.
The plant is among the endangered species and is under government protection. The farmers are therefore not allowed to harvest those growing in the bush but are encouraged to plant their own.
However, enterprising residents have grown the plant in groups and as individuals.
Some have put aside more than 10 acres for the various species and they are upbeat that one day the plant will be a source of their livelihood.
Biggest contributor
"We have been waiting for the opening of this factory for some time, but we are told that there is no permit and it cannot operate. They also tell us that the management has not been put in place," said Ms Mary Cherongony, a member of the Enlope group, which has planted five acres of aloe at Endao, Marigat.
Kefri has been providing the farmers with seeds, some of them exotic.
The plant takes up to three years to mature and Kefri officials maintain that this has been the biggest contributor to the delay.
The organisation has been providing training to the farmers on the various methods of planting and harvesting aloe.
To stop them from uprooting the whole plant, they are taught how to harvest mature leaves and save the plant for future harvests.
However, the residents criticise the Government for failing to provide direction claiming that they had been left on their own.
They add that the Government has not issued vital documents that would legalise its operations.
When the Nation team recently visited the factory, which is on Marigat-Kabarnet road, officers from Kefri were at the site to offer training to the farmers, but the growers did not turn up.
The Kefri officers were tight-lipped on the progress of the project, referring journalists to its head office in Nairobi.
Plant domestication
The project falls under the Ministry of Agriculture, which is said to be putting down the structures that would complete the domestication of the plant and ensure that its growers get loans and other enticements that are enjoyed by the other farmers.
Although aloe trade is restricted under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), limited supplies have found their way to China and the Middle East in the processed form.
The semi-arid areas in Kenya, including Samburu, Moyale, Wajir, Baringo and Kajiado districts, are believed to produce 1,000 metric tonnes of aloe gel.
In a past interview, the coordinator of aloe at Kefri, Mr Kavaka Watai Mukonyi, said that the organisation envisaged that by the year 2020, Kenya drylands will have adopted aloe as a cash crop.
Stomach upsets
Various aloe extracts have been traditionally used by communities in Kenya for the treatment of burns and cuts, to relieve stomach upsets, hair restoration, acne and skin disorder and rejuvenation.
Most cosmetic, pharmaceutical, soap and toothpaste manufacturers are turning their products herbal and a casual look at supermarkets shows that aloe is leading the way and most enticing for buyers.
Aloe juice is also used by some clinics to cure hypertension, chronic ulcers, weight management, immune-deficiency, diabetes and improves the skin.
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