Priority Value Chain

🌿 Medicinal Plants

NTFP Valorisation and Phytotherapy & Cosmetics Value Chain

Valorize my medicinal plants
22
espèces
identified with high commercial potential and structured into value chains
580 t/an
volumes collected
in the ginger and turmeric value chains supported
4
partenariats
with European cosmetic and nutraceutical companies

Value chain overview

Cameroon is home to more than 8,000 vascular plant species, hundreds of which have medicinal and cosmetic uses (shea butter, moabi oil, prunus africana bark…). XP-NOVA structures the sustainable valorisation of this heritage.

Global demand for medicinal plants and natural cosmetic ingredients is growing at 8–10%/year. Prunus africana, Irvingia gabonensis, Garcinia kola, Terminalia superba — Cameroon has species of very high value on world cosmetic and nutraceutical markets.

Potential & Key Figures

8 000+
plant species

of which 3,000+ with documented traditional use in Cameroon

15 %/an
market growth

of African natural cosmetics in Europe and Asia

CITES
regulation

required for the export of certain protected species

Production Zones

  • Centre & South forests (understorey species)
  • Adamaoua & North (shea, néré, tamarind)
  • Mount Cameroon & South-West (medicinal orchids, elephant foot)
  • Highlands (pyrethrum, ginger, turmeric)

XP-NOVA services for this value chain

  • ✓ Inventories and valorisation studies of NTFPs (Non-Timber Forest Products)
  • ✓ Sustainable plant resource management plans
  • ✓ Market studies for cosmetic and nutraceutical ingredients
  • ✓ Support for organic certification and CITES
  • ✓ Development of structured value chains (ginger, turmeric, moringa)
  • ✓ Partnerships with laboratories and cosmetic industries

Certifications & Standards

CITES export permitEU OrganicFairtradeABS Nagoya ProtocolEcocert cosmétique