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Mugisha tends to his Artemisia annua garden in southwestern Uganda. (Xinhua photo)
KABALE, Uganda, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- Tucked away in mountainous southwestern Uganda is Mugisha's Artemisia annua garden. Mugisha and his wife brave the biting coldness and mist every morning to tend to their 32 acre garden, a gold mine he calls it.
Artemisia annua is famous for its extractive - Artemisinin, the most effective anti-malaria drug first discovered by Chinese scientists.
Now the herbal plant which is commonly seen in fields of rural areas in China, begins to appear in parts of western Uganda as some farmers see big commercial potential of this plant in Africa, the continent continuing to bear the brunt of malaria.
According to figures from the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2013, an estimated 163 million cases malaria occurred in the African region, causing approximately 528,000 deaths.
Mugisha and his wife at the Artemisia annua garden in southwestern Uganda. (Xinhua photo)
"Every area in the district was given an extension agent having been trained on the ground," Clate Rugwiza, the Artemisia annua farmer's coordinator in Kabale told Xinhua in a recent interview.
The plant takes a maximum of four to six months before harvest.
According to Mugisha, ranked by his peers as the best Artemisia annua farmer in Kabale, the two-meter long plant is sun-dried and crashed into a powder form before it is transported to factories where Artemisinin is extracted. Some of the powder is purchased by herbalist.
In a good harvest season, Mugisha said he harvested up to one ton of Artemisia annua.
In comparison to farming other crops, Mugisha argued that farming Artemisia was the way to go since it did not require a lot of attention during the growing stage.
Mugisha shows leaves of the Artemisia annua. (Xinhua photo)
"When you plant it, you weed once until harvest time. We are advised to harvest it during the dry spell to avoid it getting damp," he said as he tended to his garden.
Back at his house, about 2 km uphill away from his garden, Mugisha with the help of his wife is sun-drying a pile of Artemisia annua.
He said through farming Artemisia annua, he has been able to build a permanent house and installed electricity.
A similar story is shared by many other farmers of Artemisia annua who say they have bought cows, goats and built houses among many other things.
Pay day is party day. Music blares out loud while bars and butcheries stock to the brim.
Mugisha dries the harvested Artemisia annua plant. (Xinhua photo)
"The lifestyle changed tremendously, you only needed to be there at the time of buying, that is when farmers are excited," Rugwiza said with a beaming smile.
Apart from the commercial element of Artemisia annua, locals have devised other means for its use.
Many locals, instead of going to drug shops to purchase anti-malarial drugs, they resort to chewing the leaves of Artemisia annua.
"When malaria attacks, you just pick the leaves and chew, the malaria disappears," said Mugisha, adding that many of his neighbors go to his garden to pick leaves when they fall sick.
Rugwiza argued that although the locals say that they get cured by chewing the leaves, the experts are advising against the practice noting that it may reduce the efficacy of the drugs made out of Artemisinin.
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