Centella asiatica

by Rina Razanakolona

Background

In Madagascar, the wild collection of Centella asiatica, a plant traditionally used for food and medicine in many parts of the world, is an important economic activity and contributes to the livelihoods of approximately 50,000 pickers, mostly women, as well as their families. Over the past few years, several company and sectoral projects have sought to better understand supply chain dynamics and promote good social, economic, and ecological practices.

About the plant 

Centella asiatica (Centella) is a perennial creeping herb, native to Asia. It grows in humid habitats, such as riversides, wetlands, and rice fields. Its fast-spreading capacity has led to Centella now being widespread in tropical and subtropical countries around the world. It is sometimes even considered a weed, though highly valued for culinary and medicinal properties. In several Asian countries, for example, Centella is eaten as a leafy vegetable, and the plant is part of traditional medicines used in countries from India and China to Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Madagascar. Such traditional medicinal uses include treating several skin conditions, lowering blood pressure, managing cognitive disorders such as depression and anxiety, and improving memory. Scientific studies have confirmed many of the properties of Centella in traditional medicine, as well as discovered new applications. Centella is also used in a range of existing commercial products, from dietary supplements to pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. In cosmetics, Centella is used as an active compound in skin care preparations because of its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticellulite and antiaging activity.

Centella sector in Madagascar

Madagascar is one of the leading countries in the production of Centella leaves, as Malagasy Centella has high levels of active principles, mainly triterpenoid compounds. Centella is one of the main medicinal plants exported from Madagascar, with around 600 tons of dry leaves exported every year, a number which has grown three-fold since 2012. Asian and European countries are the main importers of Centella from Madagascar.

Collection of Centella in Madagascar is done from the wild, along rivers and rice fields. Centella is found in almost all regions of Madagascar, but most collection activities take place in the Alaotra-Mangoro region. Approximately 50'000 people, mostly women, collect Centella every year. The collection season lasts seven months, from October to May - the period in which the active principles levels in the plant are highest. Centella pickers sell their leaves, through intermediaries, to any of approximately ten Malagasy exporting companies. These exporting companies define collection practices to ensure compliance with quality requirements and conduct ongoing training and monitoring. Exporting companies then dry the leaves and sell them to foreign processors or traders.

Applicable regulations

Centella exporting companies need a collection permit from the Regional Water and Forest Administration, which establishes the maximum quantity of Centella leaves that can be collected, per exporting company. The permit also establishes an obligation for the exporting companies to support reforestation in areas designated by the regional administration, depending on the volumes collected. In addition, Madagascar has rules on access and benefit Sharing (ABS), which apply to any research and development involving biological resources, including Centella. These rules require an authorization to access biological resources for research and development purposes, as well as fair and equitable sharing of resulting benefits with local actors.

Challenges  

There are social, economic, and environmental challenges linked to Centella activities in Madagascar. Centella pickers live in remote and marginalized communities, with high levels of poverty. They lack access to basic services: water is sourced from rivers or uncontrolled wells; there is low or no access to electricity; schools and health centers are lacking, at great distance, or with little proper infrastructures and equipment. The collection of Centella constitutes an additional source of income that helps pickers and their communities, which rely on farming and livestock as means of subsistence, to meet some basic household needs, including school materials and fees. Yet studies also show that many of the women pickers involve their children in the activity, which may impact their participation in school.

In terms of supply chain dynamics, there are challenges linked to the prices paid by the intermediaries for the collected Centella. Prices vary depending on the season, intermediaries, and geographical areas - for example, pickers in more remote communities often receive lower prices. And the price paid to pickers usually does not reach the equivalent of the Malagasy minimum wage, considering the time dedicated by the pickers to the activity and the volumes collected.

Finally, biodiversity loss is a huge threat in Madagascar. In the Alaotra-Mangoro, several factors contribute to ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss, including fires for land clearing and coal production; illegal logging and mining; commercial tree plantations; uncontrolled hunting; and a changing climate with increased droughts. Today, only remnants of native ecosystems are left, with endemic and endangered species present only in protected areas and a few other undisturbed areas left. Though wild collection of Centella has very low impacts on the environment, the continued availability of the species is impacted by these changes.

Promoting ethical sourcing

The growing focus on sustainability in the cosmetics and natural pharmaceutical sectors has led to opportunities to promote ethical practices in the sourcing of Centella from Madagascar. Several private and public-private sector initiatives were created in recent years, bringing together local and global actors, improving communication and collaboration in the sector, and addressing the different social, economic, and environmental challenges. For example, a working group of several international processing companies, as well as an association of several Malagasy exporters, currently work to identify strategies to increase Centella quality, increase the income for pickers and improve the organization of the supply chain through better traceability and trainings.

In addition, some international companies have developed their own projects. For example, a leading cosmetics company, in collaboration with the UEBT, a non-profit association promoting ethical sourcing of ingredients from biodiversity, is working with its local supplier to foster positive changes in its supply chains. This project includes measures to improve the conditions of the local communities based on their identified needs; strategies to increase the children’s attendance to school and reduce their involvement in the collection activities; and biodiversity initiatives aiming to reduce pressures on local ecosystems.

Another important element of this project is increasing prices paid to pickers. Such work has involved significant studies on average time spent in collection, average collection rates, people involved in the collection, applicable minimum wage, and a possible living income. Work has also been undertaken to identify the conditions of the local communities and their most pressing needs, as well to understand the current state of the Centella populations, the factors affecting their availability, and the impact of the collection activities on their regeneration. This is critical to define good collection practices that increase the quality of the Centella leaves and ensure their future availability. Based on such work, higher and fair prices are now being paid in certain supply chains. However, work is still needed to extend and coordinate practices among different actors in the sector. Similarly, measures to increase traceability and improve collection practices still need to be more widely adopted, but this is proving difficult in Centella supply chains, which involve large numbers of actors in remote areas.

Due to such these challenges, some companies are also considering the possibility of sourcing Centella from cultivation. Cultivation would have benefits, including a more controlled supply of Centella and an easier implementation of ethical practices, given fewer actors and smaller geographical areas involved. However, to date, large scale cultivation of Centella while maintaining high levels of active principle has not been achieved. Moreover, a sector-wide move to cultivation would be to the detriment of the pickers and their communities, which rely on the activity as a complementary income and are increasingly benefitting from the industry efforts to promote ethical sourcing.

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References

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UEBT. 2021. ABS in Madagascar: Overview of legal requirements, procedures and relevant authorities. Available here.