Back to Basics Baobab Moisturiser

“African Natural Products” is dedicated to mobilization, training, processing, value addition and marketing of indigenous natural agricultural, body, and health products in Africa. Baobab is the backbone of our product line.

It works with Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in rural and semi arid parts of East Africa to provide a sustainable market for wild collected and domesticated Non Timber Forestry products.

ANP’s has a portfolio of 22 products branded “Back to basics”. The range includes agricultural inputs, herbal teas, health functional juices, bee, natural body and health care products.

The company seeks to build public private sector partnership not only to integrate the supply chain and improve the transformation options but also to improve global competitiveness for the East Africa’s natural products product offering.

Food As Pharma

Time Magazine

Hippocrates once said, "Let food be thy medicine and let thy medicine be food," and doctors now believe that ancient Greek healer may have been onto something. We need food for nourishment, of course. Without it, our cells and tissues would wither away from starvation. But what's becoming clearer is that food is more than just fuel. What you eat can determine how elastic your blood vessels are, how easily you resist cancer-causing toxins and whether or not you will barrel down the road toward heart disease.

"There is an overwhelmingly strong database of studies suggesting that the quality of calories we eat has a huge impact on our well-being and our risk of chronic disease and longevity," says Dr. David Ludwig, director of the Optimal Weight for Life Program at Children's Hospital Boston.

But does food have real power to prevent disease? That's the claim behind functional foods — products that are enhanced or otherwise designed to do much more than simply supply us with needed calories and nutrients.

And the early evidence suggests that the kitchen may indeed contain potent disease-fighting agents, just as the medicine cabinet does. In a groundbreaking 2002 study, researchers found that people at risk of diabetes could delay or in some cases even prevent the disease from developing by eating fewer calories, getting them from the right kinds of foods and exercising more than two hours a week.

Even more intriguing, the study revealed that people who were genetically predisposed to diabetes benefited most. In essence, diet and other lifestyle factors altered their genetic destiny.

100,000 Tons of Baobab Produced in 2008

What will happen when Baobab goes Global?

In reponse to an article published in June in the New York Times we have posted a response from Jonathan Landrey Chief Executive of PhytoTrade Africa.

We are delighted that Dawn Starin is as excited as we are about the potential economic benefits to Africans of the growing international interest in baobab as a superfruit ("What will happen when the Baobab goes global?) However, her concerns that the trade threatens forests and household wealth are thankfully based on conjecture not fact.

PhytoTrade Africa is a non-profit trade association that has gained regulatory approval for international trade in baobab. We have developed the market with exactly the sort of economic, social and environmental safeguards that Starin is calling for.

The existing population of over 28 million baobab trees in southern Africa produces over 100,000 tons of Baobab powder per annum for market - several times more than the highest prediction of commercial demand. Far from threatening forests, ethical trade in baobab incentivizes African communities to protect and sustainably manage their local trees rather than clearing them, thus protecting biodiversity.

Jonathan Landrey
Chief Executive, PhytoTrade Africa