At Ned Christina Jordan wrote:

"Ooh! Lets figure out what we need to grow at Opok Farms to eventually make natural soaps!"

I wanted to ramble on about the subject, but to put this somewhere where it wouldn't get in the way.  Much to my great chagrin I wrote a long piece with many links this afternoon, but then at the last minute clicked the mouse by accident loosing it all into the Internet ether.  Mostly writing about this is for my benefit, so I'll try again to compose something on this subject.

Christina's comments came in response to comments by Ben Parkinson about his interest in rural cooperatives in Nigeria which make soap sold in the local market.  Parkinson is interested that they take part in the fragranced cosmetics business in the West.  He is interested in developing products for export and there was a lot of excitement generated about the prospects for LiA to develop products for export as well.

My comments are an attempt to think about that and to share some of what I've found.

Back in 2001 I was interested that researchers at Iowa State University had found that oil of catnip was 10x as effective in repelling mosquitoes as the pesticide DEET.  As it turns out it looks like DEET is probably actually more effective on the skin than oil of catnip, although oil of catnip is better than nothing.  Be that as it may, I was quite interested because I grow all sorts of mints in my garden and catnip is a familiar plant.  Also, essential oils are quite expensive.  One of the great advantages of exporting something that is valuable in small quantities is that transportation costs are low.

I'm always looking for  opportunities for my friend Nathan Magumba's group the BSLA in the Iganga District of Uganda.  I did a bit of research on essential oils.  Unfortunately I'm terrible about backing up information on my computer, and I've lost two computers since then.  Links are a little harder for me now, but I'll share some of the things I found out from memory.

Uganda is a net importer of essential oils now.  Most of the essential oils are sold through a small group of companies, mostly French, in what amounts to a cartel.  The high value and low transportation costs have captured a lot of attention so there are many trying to work on developing this business in poor countries.  Essential oils for example are an important export business for Haiti.  And as NATO is trying to find high value crops to replace opium production in Afghanistan, essential oils are something they've turned to.  South Africa is  advanced in  their efforts to promote the essential oils industry there.

My brother works for a company that markets edible and cosmetic products from botanicals grown in South America.  These are luxury products so in a way they bemuse ordinary guys like me and my brother.  While the prices for the products my brother's company sells are very high, it's important to understand that there are many costs associated with selling luxury products.  It is a capital-intensive business.

The basic ingredient of soap is fat or vegetable oils.  Fats and oils have many qualities.  One important quality is that oils like other foods spoil.  So one of the characteristics observed about different oils is how long they last before spoiling. Oils also burn, so another important characteristic about oils is the temperatures at which they burn.  Different oils have different characteristics which lend themselves to certain uses.

Some oils are gotten from plants only by industrial processes, that is expensive equipment and lots of energy is needed to get the oil.  While other oils can be pressed from the plant material, especially seeds, and this method requires less expensive equipment and energy.

Fats and oils are essential foods.  They have many other uses, but food is certainly an important one.  KickStart has developed affordable seed oil press technology, there are many other designs available.  Sunflower seeds yield a good quality oil for food.  But everything is connected.  As more farmers grew sunflowers to supply operators of seed oil presses in Africa  new diseases of sunflowers became more common.  Sunflowers are still a good food crop, but disease is something farmers keep in mind.

Peanuts are an important food crop in Africa.  Oil can be pressed from peanuts  using  seed presses like the KickStart press.  Peanut oil in addition to being a high quality  food oil that doesn't spoil too quickly , also is a good oil for making soaps.  An important technology for peanut processing for food and oil is the Universal Nut Sheller.  This inexpensive and long lasting machine creates great savings in the processing of peanuts because it allows for the efficient shelling of raw peanuts, so that only the peanut seeds need to be dried.  Drying, and even roasting peanuts  peanuts a little greatly increases the oil that can be pressed out.

Herbs have many uses and fragrance is one.  Many herbs have antiseptic properties.  So herbs can make foods not spoil  so quickly  or to help prevent wounds from  becoming infected.  Some herbs  taste  good and can be  used for syrups and sauces.  Other herbs help to relieve pain, aid digestion, or calm people down.

I grow many herbs, but I'm surprised to hear people talk about herbs.  Often it seems they think that if something is natural it can't hurt you.  But I know that many plants are poisonous.  And I also know that the reputation of some herbs for their usefulness isn't because they are actually useful.  So learning about how plants can be used is important.

Making essential oils often involves a process of steam distillation.  This requires some equipment and energy.  But there are many herbs that can be used in ways that don't require much equipment or energy.  For example I mentioned that catnip oil was good for repelling mosquitoes, in this article are directions for  making a vinegar based catnip  insect repellent and an oil based one to put on the skin.  I don't know whether catnip  grows well in Uganda.  The point is simply to show that there are practical ways of making products with herbs that don't require expensive equipment. 

Practical amounts of essential oils and floral waters (the water condensed from the steam in the process) can be made with relatively small and inexpensive equipment.  One source of very good information is a 1983 book by Grace Firth called "Secrets of the Still."    I checked on Advanced Book Exchange (ABE) and the cheapest copy of this out of print book I saw cost $75.  That's more than I can pay, but perhaps someone can find a copy in a library and make photocopies of it.

Botanical products have many uses other than for soap and cosmetics.  In Kenya a company called Advanced Bio Extracts has arrangements with farmers to grow the Artemesia annua plant.  Then they process the product that gets sold to drug companies.  In many ways this business is rather like the fragrance businesses that make essential oils.

There are many rewards to be had in learning to grow the plants needed for soap making at Opok Village.    I think it is good to think about making products for local sales and probably more important than for thinking of products for exporting.  By concentrating on local products the soap making initiative can build the local economy while increasing the skills and knowledge that could be used for the production of products for export. 

It would be good to experiment growing the herbs that have good uses.  Perhaps some will grow very well such that exploring the potential for growing for export makes good sense.  In the meantime many local products like soap, teas, ointments, sauces, bug repellent, and ingredients for medicines.  The wonderful thing about developing knowledge about useful plants is that it's so much fun and an activity so many enjoy and enjoy sharing with others.  There are many plants known around the world for their uses, but less is known around the world about useful plants from Africa.  So it can be something for discovery all around.