Project
Components
The Herbal and Medicinal Plants Project (HMPP) will permit
project participants to test and validate widely agreed-upon activities for
commercialization and conservation of several key species, i.e. allium,
caper, rosemary and artemisia and a longer list
of 10 or so species that will be developed as “pipeline” or model species
for future work. In addition to developing practical models of
plant exploitation, the project will conduct an analysis of the herbal and
medicinal plant sector and develop a consortium of stakeholders to define
constraints and market opportunities. The current phase would last until the
end of 2004 (if an extension from
1.
Component 1: Socioeconomic analyses. The project will
provide for a social, economic, and market analysis at the international,
national and local level. The project team agreed to summarize existing
information and analyze current consumption and use, farming systems and
marketing channels for producing and selling herbal and medicinal plants. In addition, IRA scientists will assemble and
present GIS layers to characterize the climate (temperature, precipitation),
soils, topography, land tenure, demography and farming
systems in the target areas selected for the project.
2.
Component 2: Genetic
resources management. (a) Collect and conserve herbal and medicinal
plants by means of both ex-situ (short-term, long-term, black box) and in-situ
methods for plant genetic resource conservation; (b) Develop a database modeled
after the USDA-ARS Genetic Resource Information System (GRIN), and (c) Multiply
and distribute plant materials that will enable them to be tested in practical
systems of production and to be used by researchers, (d) Evaluate genetic diversity
of selected herbal and medicinal plants in the region to establish a database
for long term monitoring of diversity and genetic erosion. GIS layers will characterize the collection
missions to date, including collection sites and frequency of the herbal and
medicinal target species found within the relevant phyto-geographical
zones. Tables 1 and 2 show relevant
species of interest in
3.
Component 3:
Institutional assessment and project partnership arrangements. The project will
include participation of partners for the following functions: (a) project
management and research (IRA); (b) agricultural association(s) that represent
farmers (UTAP); (c) extension agencies (CFRA, CRDA, IRA) (d) plant and food
science institutions; (e) pharmacists and other health professionals from the
university and private sector (f) marketers and exporters from the private
sector; and (g) development agencies. Table 3 attempts to more objectively
describe the relative level of involvement from stakeholders up to the present
time.
4.
Component 4: Systems
of production. For each of the
target species, from each of the land tenure categories (i.e. private, common
and state lands) the project will provide for: (a) agronomic research and
extension (bulletins, farm notes, fiche
techniques); (b) extension ‘packages’ for product development and marketing
of the target species (collaboration with food scientists, chemists, vegetable
wholesalers for fresh or dry plant materials); and (c) conservation for each of
the species (inventory, in-situ and ex-situ monitoring, collection, multiplication).
5.
Component 5: Training
and regional cooperation. The project will provide (a) training to meet
project objectives, (b) country-to- country exchange of experience; (c)
workshops focusing on special issues; and (d) coordination, planning and
reporting meetings.
6.
Component 6: Project
Management. A Project Management Unit (PMU) will be
established to provide for: (a) planning, implementation and reporting; (b)
financial management; (c) coordination among the stakeholders (d) a periodic
gathering of the Steering Committee members which will be composed of members
from IRA (Director General and Project Manager), ICARDA (NARP Regional
Coordinator), USDA (International Program Leader, Office of International
Research Programs), and additional delegates from Tunisia .