We have Neem POACHERS!

Call out the hounds.  Bring in the army.  Alert the U.N.  We have Neem poachers in Kibaale District.

Poachers in progress.  Not Uganda

In other environments, poachers have decimated animal populations or fields of poppies.  I confess I once copped a few ferns out of my neighbor's yard when I was much younger.  Actually, my favorite shovel is called a "poacher's spade."   However, we have just discovered women from a village near Kayanja where we have an acre of Neem trees growing to maturity, sneaking over in the early morning hours to strip off leaves for their own personal use.

We believed that the benefits of Neem were somewhat known in the area but we never expected people to realize that if they have an ailment, they know Neem is the remedy, and go trooping through the Buffalo Grass to find a plant. This is one of those good-news, bad-news stories.  I am elated that people know of the curative benefits of Neem.  But, as we plant more - and more than 2,000 of our 12,000 seedlings have been transplanted to date... we may experience more filching of the foliage.

This is not a development that requires fencing or dogs or police.  It is, in fact, a very wonderful development because our overall goal is to help people in the villages be healthier and resist disease.  The more Neem is put to work, the more enthusiastic will be the acceptance once we begin offering trees to villagers.

The project is on track.  We could use some funds to plant more seeds.  We continue to seek partners for our planned Neem Study.  Click HERE to contribute if you wish.

Neem Becomes Big Business in India

Following the Neem Foundation, we discover that Neem has become big business in India.  Go to their website and you'll find this interesting list of uses for Neem - which is extensive.  Neem is so powerful and popular in India, Monsanto Corporation, which runs several production facilities there tried to trademark the name Neem which would have put most of the home remedy businesses out of business.  Thankfully, that did not happen.

Large Neem trees ready for transplanting

For those of us working with Neem in Africa, it is instructive to follow the India Model:  stimulate local growth, maximize the collection of bark, leaves and seeds, and then market worldwide. Gather and publicize the stories of Neem at work.   Even with all the activity in India, the market for Neem has barely been touched.  Even if all of India and all of Africa were actively producing raw materials, demand would still remain very high.  Why?  Because the actual applications of Neem so far have just scratched the surface.  There is potential for every pharmaceutical and cosmetic manufacturer in the world to have a line of Neem-based or Neem-ingredient products.   A surprising side-benefit is that by planting trees, people also reap the benefits of greening the planet

In Uganda, The Neem Initiative is starting small, developing quality people and processes in order to scale up quickly in approximately two years.  We are hoping our methodology will be a model that can be replicated throughout Africa.  We invite you to step into the Neemiverse and watch with wonder or, better yet, become a Neemist and help promote our work.  Email me at neemjournalist@gmail.com with questions.