Access to arable land -
Candidates should be either a landowner or have access to land on which they are authorized to produce their own medicinal plants in the 3rd year of training.

Experience or deep interest in business and management -
Candidates with a strong business aptitude and entrepreneurial spirit will be favored.

Academic training and/or technical knowledge and experience in botany and/or agronomy -Read more

A medicinal plant processing center is where medicinal plants are brought after harvest. There, the plants undergo a specific series of treatments (washing, drying, milling) and preparations (packaging and labeling) and are then warehoused in a clean, controlled environment which will protect them from the risk of contamination and/or deterioration.Read more

The BDA Foundation wants to train African entrepreneurs in the methods of industrial cultivation and harvesting of medicinal plants, all within the perspective of sustainable development. The pilot-project of the BDA Foundation has begun in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), but the model will be replicated in many other countries throughout Africa. The BDA project includes three phases over three years at a cost of 3 million dollars.Read more

A GREATLY EXPANDING MARKET: AFRICA'S PLACE

Africa must enter the regulated market for plant-based medicines in the industrialized world by conforming to rigorous international standards:
• Between now and 2010, the international market for natural products will reach US $100 billion. Up to now, Africa has derived less than 1% of the revenues generated by this industry.
• The WHO estimates that 4 billion people, representing 80% of the world's population, use medicinal plants.
• A large proportion of medicines currently marketed are derived from plants.Read more

Towards a Triple Return on Investment: Economic, Social and Environmental Development

There are an enormous variety of medicinal plants, worth millions of dollars, currently growing wild on hectares of land throughout Africa. The BDA Foundation would like to provide African farmers with the resources and knowledge they need to participate in the international markets for these plants and thereby contribute to the changing face of the African economy.Read more

BDA Foundation is a non-profit organization that operates in Africa in the area of international cooperation. With an eye to sustainable development and the protection of biodiversity, BDA Foundation supports scientific cooperation and provides technical training and support.Read more