U2 Singer Visits TechnoServe's Artemisia Program on Tour of African Success Stories

ARUSHA, TANZANIA, MAY 20, 2006 — U2 singer Bono led a delegation of business executives and health professionals (including Dr. Richard Feacham, executive director of the Global Fund) to TechnoServe's Artemisia program in northern Tanzania today. They were there to see first-hand how the economic development organization is empowering Africans to fight the African problems of malaria and poverty.

Since early 2005 TechnoServe has been assisting an African company by introducing a new cash crop alternative—- the herb Artemisia— to African farmers. This USAID-funded project has been raising rural family incomes while simultaneously benefiting sick people by increasing the supply of the malaria treatment most recommended by the World Health Organization.

Bono's visit came as part of a 10-day African tour aiming to shine a light on Africa's problems as well as on programs that are successfully addressing them.

During his visit to Sambasha Village near Arusha, Bono saw Artemisia (Artemisia annua) plants in nurseries and under cultivation. TechnoServe/Tanzania Country Director Thomas Dixon filled him in on the Artemisia market that African farmers are tapping into with TechnoServe assistance, and TechnoServe Program Coordinator Mick Baddeley informed him about the production steps from seed procurement to leaf shipment.

Bono then visited villagers in their homes, learning about issues on their minds and encouraging them to use malaria bed nets and to be well-briefed on HIV/AIDS prevention. On his departure, Bono declared that he was impressed with how TechnoServe's program brings 21st-century ideas, business skills and technology to traditional communities, which opens the door to new opportunities for these farmers. He also complimented TechnoServe's team on their commitment to fighting poverty.

Ninety percent of all malaria-related deaths occur in Sub-Saharan Africa, where the disease kills about a million people annually, the majority of them children, despite the fact that the disease is both preventable and treatable. The most effective treatment - Artemisinin-based Combination Therapies (ACTs), based on an extract of the herb Artemisia— has been primarily sourced from Vietnam and China. TechnoServe determined that rising demand for this treatment presented an opportunity for Africans to fight malaria while simultaneously creating new economic opportunities for the continent's poor.

TechnoServe— with funding from WHO, USAID and the BetterWorld Together Foundation— has partnered with an East African company, Advanced Bio-Extracts Ltd (ABE), to assist in dramatically increasing its supply of Artemisia. It has linked the company to East African farmers keen to diversify (to mitigate farming risks such as weather and commodity price swings) by adding a profitable cash crop to complement traditional food crops such as maize. The broad-based initiative involves identifying optimal growing areas, sourcing seeds, organizing nurseries to supply seedlings, training agricultural workers in Artemisia cultivation, forming village training clubs, setting up administrative structures to service smallholder growers, and forging solid farmer-buyer relationships.

As a result, the area of land being cultivated for Artemisia in northern Tanzania is increasing rapidly (from zero to more than 600 acres in just the first year of TechnoServe's involvement). In 2005, 132 metric tons of Artemisia leaves were harvested in this area, enough to produce the active ingredient for 1.1 million ACT treatments. In East Africa overall, 500 metric tons of Artemisia leaves were harvested, enough to produce the active ingredient for 4.5 million ACT treatments.

The 850 smallholder farmers in northern Tanzania who grew Artemisia in 2005 will have earned nearly US$100,000 from last year's crops. Since then their ranks have grown to 1150 farmers, who will earn at least US$320,000 in increased incomes this year.

Thom Dixon summed up the visit by commenting: "The private sector must play a key role in providing options for people to escape poverty. It can also address other pressing problems such as disease. This program demonstrates again that poor farmers, given the right tools and knowhow, are eager to capitalize on business opportunities that empower them to transform their lives. More partnerships, engaging innovative business executives and supportive public officials, are needed are help bridge the chasm of poverty so many Africans face today."

More broadly, projections for 2006 are for enough Artemisia to be grown in East Africa to supply 35 to 40 million ACT treatments. ABE is also building a multi-million-dollar processing plant in Kenya to produce artemisinin for the global market, including for sale to an international pharmaceutical company that ensures a guaranteed market. Meanwhile, TechnoServe has also identified suitable areas in Madagascar where farmers could benefit from growing Artemisia.

About TechnoServe: TechnoServe helps entrepreneurial men and women in the developing world to build businesses that provide jobs, income and economic opportunity. Since its founding in 1968, the U.S.-based nonprofit has helped to create or improve more than 2,000 businesses, benefiting millions of people in 32 countries. TechnoServe is currently working to build and expand businesses in Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Swaziland, Uganda, Ghana, Madagascar, Rwanda, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Peru, Colombia, Brazil, Côte d'Ivoire and India. TechnoServe was recognized as one of the world's "Outstanding Social Entrepreneurs" by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship.

For more information, please contact:
Thom Dixon, Country Director, TechnoServe/Tanzania Tel: + 255-27-254-4544; Email: thomas.dixon@tnstanzania.org

Luba Vangelova, Director of Marketing Communications, TechnoServe/Washington, DC Tel: +1 202-719-1302; Email: lvangelova@tns.org