Supporting SMMEs in the African Traditional Medicine (ATM) Sector South African Bureau of Standards Sadhvir Bissoon Ms Amanda Gcabashe ATM Specialist

Introduction Up to 70% of South Africans use ATM R20 Billion to the South African economy Since 1978 there has been proposals for the integration of Traditional Medicine into Primary Healthcare Systems African Union (AU) and WHO Africa have initiated action plans targeting local production of traditional medicine

Composition of the industry Industry supports the cultural usage of traditional medicine Use can be prescribed & dispensed (by a traditional healer) or be family remedies (know exactly what one is looking for) or be traditional remedies known by all Per SEDA Report (2012) consists of: – Traditional healers – estimate up to – Harvesters & traders – – Informal manufacturers/distributors – – Informal shops (included above) – Formal manufacturers/distributors – 5 000

Composition of the industry Predominantly micro enterprises High levels of fragmentation Have limited resources Little or no exposure to implementation of standards No designated quality control personnel or facilities Participants, in some form or the other, use their own standards in the conduct of their businesses

Informal Markets Ezimbuzini Market - Umlazi Faraday Market - Johannesburg

Benchmarking Traditional Medicine Products

7 Natural Products: What, Why, How The Current Ecosystem & Standards Opportunities National ATM Vision 2023 Retail dispenser Storage guidelines Packaging and labelng Supplementary planting Sustainable wild harvesting; Storage Packaging and labeling Good manufacturing practices; User guidance

Challenges faced by stakeholders in the Sector Understanding of the value of standards to the Sector Knowledge of the standards development process How to participate in the development of Standards Lack of experience or background in implementation of standards in their business Financial constraints

Interventions to support the ATM sector Identify and recruit relevant stakeholders for inclusion in the standards development process – Workshops to introduce standardization as a concept and importance of effective contribution by relevant stakeholders; – Highlighting the expected benefits of implementing standards Develop capacity of SMMEs to participate in committee meetings – Invited stakeholders to observe an international technical committee (ISO TC 249) plenary and working groups; – Training provided to members of the committee Standards development process; Collaboration platform for developing standards

Facilitate implementation of the standards in the micro- enterprises – Awareness raising campaigns to highlight the practical application of standards e.g. 2 day training on HACCP and ISO 9001 – Based on participant’s business life-cycles, Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA), one of our industry partners, evaluate participants to identify their readiness for conformity assessment Building funding capacity for implementation – Identified relevant SMME development partners for collaboration – Develop collaboration model with SMME development partners based on the mandate of the SMME development agencies Interventions to support the ATM sector

Programme impact 182 microbusiness owners trained on: – HACCP – ISO 9001 Standards developed directly by TC ATM – Moringa standard – Guidelines on sustainable harvesting Guidelines on cultivation and propagation of plants – Mopani worms standard

Programme Impact Standards in draft format to be finalized first quarter 2016/17 – Conformity assessment for African Traditional Medicine Chemical and microbial contamination New Work Items Proposed – Code of good practice in African Traditional medicine clinics standard – Terminology standard Proposed Projects – Guidelines on ATM waste disposal

Success Stories