During the Emerging Technology panel moderated by Guy Kawasaki I was impressed by KickStart. Their comments and insights were grounded and informed. They are looking at all the angles, at all the information out there, they have clearly seen the good and the bad and are working to take the good and leave the bad. One of the things that has always bothered me about technology aimed at helping the bottom of the pyramid is that they lack basic infrastructure, and because of this lack often either don’t have the resources to access the technology that is being touted as their latest salvation or they don’t understand how it helps them with their basic fundamental needs. What good is a laptop when you don’t have access to the internet? More fundamentally, what good is a laptop when you don’t have food, or water? If it were me that laptop would equal $$$. Not only do solutions aimed at helping need to address the actual needs to the recipient, the recipient of these well intentioned helping hands needs to understand what the technology is for and want to solve that problem too… and if the solution solves a problem they want to solve too… suddenly you have something that is successful. There is no real need to give a handout to a hardworking person. Affordable solutions to real problems are needed though. Kickstart is actually doing that.

On their website they list their five step process to solving poverty:

I wish them tremendous success with their project. The tools they create can truly provide the African farmer with a bit of technology that will help them feed their families and increase their income. Let’s hope that they can successfully launch them and succeed in getting local populations to adopt these tools.

There is a healthy aloe vera based products market here in Scandanavia.

[ Due to recent server crash at our hosting company, we are reposting this entry due to data loss ]

I don’t think that I have ever been more nervous about this project than when I was sitting Travelers’ Corner in Masindi (my virtual office while I am in Masindi), waiting for my driver to take me to this meeting with the farmers. All week, my brother kept telling me that I was being refereed to as “the delegate from the US”. That I was here to speak with the farmers, and that all Association members and non-member aloe vera and Moringa farmers should attend the meeting. The project suddenly became real, and I was wallowing halfway between “oh-shitsville” and “I can not wait for this project to take off!”

Almost a year a go I was meeting Marsha Wulff and she was introducing me to the term “Africueticals”, Project Diaspora was a dream on paper, and I had no idea what I was going home to do or find. Within a month of arriving here in Uganda, Project Aloe was born, one foggy September morning, when I stood barefoot in my mother’s garden innocently eyeing this curious-looking prickly plant. I had no idea what I was getting into when I examined the fresh rows of aloe and uttered, “what’s this?”

I arrived late to the meeting. Not the usual 15-30 minute customary East African time late, but the “Keep Them Waiting, I am-an-Important-Delegate-Two-Hours-Late,” late. Not my fault of course, and the car did arrive on time to pick me up. But the driver needed some money for fuel, so I waited 45 minutes for him to get back. There was a gas station one block from where I was sitting mind you, but I digress. After picking up my mother, we arrived a cool two hours late. There were bicycles stacked outside the community hall and many had pedaled miles to get here. Later in the meeting I recognized one of the farmers because we had passed him as he furiously pumped up a hill. You could tell he was headed somewhere in a hurry and was not going to let one little hill force him to dismount and walk his bike the rest of the way.

Masindi Aloe Vera Farmers

3 Kg of fresh moringa seeds ready for export

Meeting farmers with the LC3 chairman of the area

It’s been a long 10 months with Project Aloe, there have been moments where I’ve felt totally useless and a few times I’ve managed to convince myself that there’s no way these farmers could be helped, or if they could be helped, it certainly wasn’t going to be me doing it. What do I know about aloe vera farming and processing anyway? But slowly, by slowly, nuggets of evidence and random encounters have led me to believe that there’s a solution out there. This project has been an exercise in patience, persistence, and perseverance. Patience, because, had I simply dismissed this project, I would have completely ignored Marsha’s invitation to attend the KDNC conference in Dallas last November. It was there where I met Carole Robert at PharmAfrican. Had I not met her, there would be no 3 Kilos of Masindi Moringa sitting in a Canadian pharmaceutical lab. Persistence, because I pestered her and anyone I could think of with emails about the project. Lastly, the wherewithal to persevere amid thoughts of accepting early failure and walking away from this project.

Fortunately I’ve had a great team working along-side me. The Project Aloe team is nearly 10 members strong stretching across two continents and four countries. Hundreds-strong if you count all the eager farmers waiting patiently and mobilizing when needed. So here’s to all of you who are working day and night on this project. I most certainly would be nowhere with the contributions each of you have made. This is our project. And even though it’s just now getting some kind of traction, it wouldn’t be where it is without your help. So here’s my thanks to Mom, Marsha, Tracy, Carole, Isaiah, Pete, Joe, Stephen, and Cécile. And many thanks the many well-wishers who’ve given me a push and a kick in the you-know-what, when I’ve been down.

Well, as a testament to the mysterious ways of the universe and the value of never-giving up I bring you this tale.

Our efforts to open up international markets to the Aloe farmers of Uganda has been a long slow process with a few glimmers of possible hope but no real action that we could bring to the table. No cash in anybodies pockets, no deals, no forward momentum, just lots of information, conversation and contacts. We dreaded going to the farmers with more “please be patient” and “we are working on it”

And then one day the question came…

“Do you have any Moringa?” Ummm… whaaaa?

“MORINGA? What is that?” So scratching our heads we began to mine the all knowing “Google” and discovered that we did indeed have Moringa. Not only did we have Moringa, but it is an amazing multi-use, hardy miracle plant that if you believe what everyone says about it could feed the poor, help HIV/AIDS patients, purify water, feed livestock, be used as a biofuel, as well as grow stronger healthier plants and children. It almost sounds like the latest huckster prank, there is almost nothing this plant cannot do. If we had not been approached for it by a trusted friend I doubt we would have believed a word of it.

Oh… if you are as ignorant of it as we were… here are some pictures of it for you.

So we added it to our project list, and got to work learning what we could about the economic viability of the plant as a crop and what it takes to process it. All the same stuff we have been doing for Aloe. As we were plodding through our research a blessing of a bomb got dropped into our plans.

A request for Three KILOS of Moringa. Three kilos, for testing, three kilos that might lead to more kilos, three kilos that someone out in the world was willing to pay for!

Here are a few notes from the field. TMS Ruge, just happened to be in Uganada post EAIC and went straight to Misindi and got to work:

DAY 1

After realizing that we’d need more that 3 Kg of seeds with husks in order to achieve 3 Kg of clean seeds, we sent for about 10 kg of husks. After some trial and error, we started processing the hard way, peeling each husk by hand, careful not to crush the seed. Everyone has jumped in to help. We’ve split 10 Kg between two groups of people. This is my side of the family. My little siblings and their friends pitched in to help. The seeds in the container are about 4 minutes of work for three people…

Processing Day 1

I had everyone wash their hands thoroughly clean, without soap. I didn’t want any residue on the seeds.

I am quite sure that there’s are easier ways to process it, but I didn’t want to try anything we weren’t properly trained to do.

It’s mid-afternoon now, and we have about 1kg done at my house, haven’t heard from the other group…

We should have enough by tomorrow afternoon, so that I can head to Kampala and mail them…

DAY 2

After yesterday morning’s slow start, production kicked into high gear. Turns out that my little sister, Sharon, now 14, got tired of having to open each husk by hand. She instead started scratching her head for a faster way to process the Moringa husks. This is where childhood creativity and “necessity being the mother of all inventions” collide. She spread out a fiber sack, poured out a handful of husks. She then used a flat rock to gently “grind” the husks open in a “wax on, wax off” semi-circular motion. Clock-wise with a little pressure cracks the husks. Reversing the direction “opens” the husks. Then you simply pick the seeds and place them in the container.

<

3 Kg of fresh moringa seeds ready for export

My nephew, Ronald, then took over the task of cleaning the seeds this morning—picking out shells and sifting out any dirt. He also picked out the dried out or bad-quality seeds.

I think we ended up with about 5 Kg of seeds. I’ll take 3Kg to Kampala this afternoon and prepare them for shipping tomorrow afternoon.

The method is primitive but highly productive, and with a little trial and error, a more refined process can emerge using simplified tools. I think a rudimentary assembly line could be arranged using this method of extraction. If you study the motions closely, one could actually design a simple mechanical extraction devise to push productivity even further. If I had a minute to spare, I’d design it, build it, and patent it in her name. It was awe-inspiring to see her problem-solving skills at work.

It just goes to show that Africa has solutions. We just need to be engaged properly, with the right tasks (and the right people of course.)

Stay tuned for more!
(PS: Now we have to rename Project Aloe, isn’t that a good problem to have!)

If you’ve been looking for a way to help get the word out on Project Aloe, here’s an easy-as-pie way to help us. We’ve whipped up a nice little banner ad, complete with the code. All you have to do is copy and paste it into your desired location on your website. We’d like to get as many people involved, especially the African Diaspora. Give us a shout in the comments if you have any issues installing the code.

Over the next few weeks, Project Diaspora will be covering the plight of Uganda’s aloe vera farmers who are trying to find international markets for their product. Part 1 of Project Aloe is an overview of how I personally got involved. Subsequent articles will provide more details into the challenges of trying to assist these farmers.

An open letter to Hajji Ali Sessanga:

Dear Dan/Hajji Ali Sessanga,

I write to inform you that Project Diaspora recently started to cover the plight of Uganda’s aloe vera farmers. We’ve had the story on our desk since September of 2007 and have been in the process of educating ourselves about the world-wide aloe vera industry. Recently we went public with what we know so far and in the coming weeks, we will be updating the series as more information develops. In our research, your organization, Uganda Commercial Aloe Vera Association, was identified as responsible for the introduction of aloe vera into Uganda (specifically, aloe barbadensis miller, a variety common to our state of residence, Texas)

It has come to our attention that you sold these seedlings to thousands of Ugandan farmers, at what we consider a premium. We’ve also followed your efforts to engage the global markets for a partnership since 2005. However, we are unable to determine what your “go-to-market” strategy is. It seems that you’ve shifted your strategies since you got engaged in this project:

In 2005, your were in search of a “development partners who can invest in the extraction of aloe vera.”

Two years later, you announced that your association had received funding for a processing plant worth over 1Bn Ush, and that you were increasing aloe production. Not too long after that, you announced that you had begun exporting aloe vera seedlings to neighboring countries. In the months since we got the story, we’ve grown suspicious of your methods and hence have a lot of questions which we feel need answers directly from you in order to properly asses how big Uganda’s aloe vera industry is, and what it will take to properly serve the thousands of farmers that you have left stranded.

Did you in fact get the funding?
If so, what was the total amount of funding that you received.
You have been quoted giving contradictory sums. From $300,000 all the way to $600,000.

What price are you offering the farmers for the aloe leaves? aloe seedlings?
Our research indicates that you were offering up to 3,000 shillings per Kg. for the leaves. We have also discovered that you are buying aloe vera seedlings from the very farmers that you sold aloe vera seedlings to for the purposes of exporting them to Japanese and Korean, Congolese, UK and Kenyan markets. How much are you buying them back from the farmers? How much have you bought, and which districts in Uganda are you concentrating your purchases? How much have you exported?

If you did receive funding, who was your funding partner, and has the processing plant been constructed?

Show me the money!
You collected membership fees. You charged a premium for the seedlings and you were presumably the only supplier of aloe barbadensis seedlings in the country (a virtual monopoly). Basic math calculations conclude that you earned more than the magic $600,000 that it costs for the type of plant you promised to bring to Uganda. In other words, we are confused as to why you needed funding in the first place when you earned more than enough money to single-handedly bring an entire processing facility to Uganda. What happened to all that money that you charged your fellow Ugandans?

If so, where is it located?
All the news organizations that have reported on this story, have either failed to report on the location of your facility or have not followed up as to the whereabouts of this facility and how farmers can find it in order to bring their aloe vera raw materials to your facility for purchase.

What is its processing capacity?
You’ve reported that you received funding for a processing facility worth $600.00, and that “Uganda’s Aloe Vera acreage coverage is 380 hectares (912 acres). If this is in fact, true, then your facility should have the capability to process up to 55,000 Kg of aloe vera daily! In other words, you should be able to process the entirety of Uganda’s aloe vera acreage on a monthly basis. If this is so, why is there an entire District (nearly 900 Masindi farmers) stuck with a rotting supply of aloe vera in their gardens a full two years past the date you promised to come back and purchase it. And what of the Karamoja farmers?

What method are you using to process the aloe? How are you storing it?
Our research indicates that the best processing method is cold processing, as it is the best method to preserve a majority of the active enzymes that make the aloe vera such a potent health plant. This method of course, is energy-dependent. As you know Uganda and most of East Africa is energy-strapped. How are you overcoming this production hurdle?

International Certification?
Our research also indicates that in order for aloe to enter the international markets, it has to go through a stringent certification process by The International Aloe Council. This certification involves not only certification of the raw materials but the processing facility as well. Have you in fact, been able to receive international certification for all of this aloe that you have exporting to international buyers? If so, why hasn’t this been reported?

There are many more questions of course, but we thought these few questions urgently needed to be addressed in order for us to fully address the state of Uganda’s aloe vera industry. We would appreciate a response on the matter to clarify what we hope to be a simple case of under reporting by the general media. We would hate to label you as a con man when in fact you are an enterprising Ugandan that’s run into an international road block in getting a major cash crop on the international market. I am sure thousands of stranded Ugandan farmers will appreciate answers to these very questions, after they have only been waiting for 4 years since you took all their money.

You are free to leave us a reply in the comments below. We will publish your responses on our site so that the answers are freely available to all interested parties.

p.s.
What’s your real name? You have been identified as Dan Sessanga as well as Hajji Ali Sessanga. Which is it?

Over the next few weeks, Project Diaspora will be covering the plight of Uganda’s aloe vera farmers who are trying to find international markets for their product. Part 1 of Project Aloe is an overview of how I personally got involved. Subsequent articles will provide more details into the challenges of trying to assist these farmers.

“What’s this?”
I thought it was an innocent question and I was expecting a simple answer, you know, one of those that make you slap your forehead and go, “Doh! I knew that!”.
I was standing in my mother’s garden. The weather was cool this particular August morning, and a light fog was rising from the surrounding deep forest. I was trying to chase away the morning chill with heavy sips from the tea cup in my hand.
My mother paused from weeding a row of beans and looked up. I was standing in a row of prickly plants that looked like pineapple but had no fruit. There were four rows across and about 15 plants deep.
“Aloe Vera,” she said with a somewhat defeated sigh, “that’s aloe vera.”
Somehow, I knew there was more to the story.

About 4 years earlier, a man called Hajji Ali Sessanga, formed Uganda Commercial Aloe Vera Farmers Association in Kampala and started soliciting farmers around the country to buy and start planting aloe vera seedlings in large quantities. I will get more in depth on Ali Sessanga a bit later. He convinced the farmers that there was a ready foreign market and that large quantities of the processed aloe gel were going to be bought at a good price, after the aloe matures in 18 months. Of course the sales pitch was enticing to a farmer making less than 500 dollars a year. The possibility of tripling or quadrupling one’s income in one year singularly on a one-crop investment was too enticing to ignore.

Breaking Down the Scheme:
For the sake of accuracy and simplification, we’ll just focus on the affected farmers in Masindi District alone. But the numbers can be extrapolated for use with other districts around the country. For currency conversion, we’ll use 1,750 shillings to one dollar rate equivalent.

Mr. Sessanga bought radio airtime and baited farmers with promises of getting rich quick. Interested farmers were to pay a 5,000 shilling membership fee before getting access to the seedlings. The membership provided no guarantees nor was it a specifically binding agreement. After a membership card was offered, the farmers were free to purchase as many seedlings as they could afford (this was encouraged) at a price of 1,500 shillings each. One acre of aloe vera can accommodate about 1,600 plants. The average aloe vera acreage per farmer in Masindi District is estimated at about .75 acres. Translated, that means that on average, each participating farmer in this District invested about 1,800,000 shillings, or roughly $1,028 in aloe vera. This is a lot of money for a peasant farmer. This is not counting the time invested in weeding and upkeep of these gardens for nearly three years. Now multiply that effort by the roughly 1,000 farmers that participated in Masindi District alone.

Under normal circumstances, aloe vera matures for harvest in about 18 months. After which it can be harvested 3 to 4 times a year. In the healthy loam soil of Masindi, yields of the aloe vera leaves weighing about 1.5Kg were not unexpected. A healthy aloe plant, produces 3-5 leaves per harvest, or up to 15 leaves per year for every plant. The farmers were offered a price of 3,000 Uganda Shillings per Kg. Given that price, the average farmer stood a chance of making $20,000 and $26,000 per year on an acre of aloe vera. With that kind of a potential jump in income, it’s a wonder more farmers in Masindi District didn’t sign up for aloe vera.

A Call to Action
After hearing the story, I went around the district to meet with some of the farmers and see the size their harvests. It was sad to hear about the amount of effort they put into planting and maintaining their gardens. After several visits, I gathered some facts on how many farms and farmers were affected, the promises made to them and the potential economic impact that had affected the area.
Fortunately, before coming to Uganda, I had a chance meeting with Marsha Wulff, founder of Africeuticals™, and has invested in marketing African medicinal plants in the states. I sent the report to Miss Wulff , along with high resolution photos of the plantations that I had visited. Miss Wulff passed the report around to her colleagues and after four months, the consensus was reached that it was difficult to help the farmers get an international market for their aloe gels without a processing plant near the growing fields. There was already a glut of aloe vera on the international market and African aloe vera was not economically viable as transportation costs added to the cost of the raw material purchase itself. There is also the added costly hurdle of getting the international aloe vera certification before any international commercial partnerships can be aligned.

Meanwhile, back in Masindi District, I requested a meeting with some of the coordinators within the region. I had spent quite some considerable time researching the world-wide aloe vera industry and it’s many complexities, and I wanted to pass along my findings. Since the District was large, there was a sort of rudimentary organization with the participating members. Coordinators were appointed region-wide as a way to quickly disperse information. I arrived late to the meeting after a long, bumpy matatu ride from Kampala. There was a small gathering of farmers who were desperate for any kind of good news, and were none too pleased to hear what I had to say. Nonetheless I delivered the facts of my findings.

I explained what they were up against. I took care not to make any promises that I couldn’t keep.

The best scenario and outlet for the farmers was to have them create their own local market for their processed products. A process that would involve bringing a processing plant to the region as well as the various components to process and package the myriad of aloe-based finished products, i.e., soaps, tea, lotions, gels, and drinks. The very same processing plant I found out, that Sessanga himself claimed to have procured as early as April of 2007. Jane Nafula, reporting for Uganda’s The Monitor newspaper found that:

Sessanga said the machine worth $300,000 (Shs540m) would process Aloe Vera into toothpaste, medicinal liquids, cosmetics and animal feeds. He said members would also export Aloe Vera flowers to Sudan where there is a market for it. The flowers are used in making Aloe Vera herbal tea.

The products would be geared for the local African Market. Another advantage of bringing the factory to the region would be the secondary and tertiary economic impact it would have on the region. The factory would employ a small subset of workers. The farmers would also employ more farm hands to help harvest their aloe crop or to plant and maintain additional acreage. In essence a processing plant serving 1000 farmers would in effect impact a community of about 5000 directly and more indirectly.

While I saw the upside if a plan could be in place; the financial, logistical, and project management hurdles are overwhelming. Over the next few weeks, I will cover what I have discovered in my efforts to assist these farmers find international markets for their product. It’s been almost six months since I encountered these farmers. In that time, I have learned a lot in regards to Africa’s inability to get a fair deal in regards to international agricultural trade.