Kampala — THE French government has commissioned a building for drying and processing medicinal plants for Toro Botanical Gardens in Kabarole district. Plants like pawpaws, arthemisia and lemon grass will be processed and used to treat fevers and other diseases.

The unit that cost about sh50m was funded under the French Social Development Fund, a small grant programme that targets innovative pilot initiatives by civil society organisations and lower governments.

"The project is designed as being innovative with participatory research activity for tree and plant conservation that will empower women living around Fort Portal through the cultivation of endangered indigenous species for income generation," said French ambassador Rene Forceville while commissioning the plant on Saturday.

The chairperson of the board of trustees, Prof. Edward Rugumayo, said the processing unit had been constructed in remembrance of the former director of the botanical gardens, Monik Adriaens, who sourced funding the project from France.