Our Purpose
People Powered by Plants
Our Company
Afraceuticals develops and produces naturally potent and high-quality African plant-phytoceutical products with proven safety and efficacy for the Pharmaceutical & Nutraceutical industry. We offer products shared by the traditional African herbalists, who have used the healing power of their African botanical treasure chest for millennia in a way that connects people, plants, and our planet.
Our Purpose
At Afraceuticals our true purpose is what drives us: to create healing by reconnecting people to plants and the planet, a circle of life which is inextricably linked. More and more people today are becoming aware of this inter-connectedness, as well as the healing wisdom that plants have to offer humanity.
We are passionate about discovering, protecting, and developing existing botanical wisdom and innovating around the methods which are used to obtain these precious resources. African herbal resources may hold the key to the treatment of major medical ailments. We are now poised to unlock the tremendous potential of Africa’s medicinal herbs and present these resources to a global platform. We wish to share the success of our African Pharmacopeia with South Africa and the world.
People Powered by Plants™
Social Innovation
Consciousness and Community is the common thread that weaves its way through every aspect of our business, ensuring awareness not only of the product and process, but also of the people, plants, wildlife, and environment involved at every stage, from harvest to delivery.
Afraceuticals is a vehicle through which we aim to establish a new, symbiotic economy that will benefit not only individuals and their communities, but every species on our planet. We envision a world in which man does not take more than nature can replenish. Our participation in this economy will be founded upon selfless service to bring about fair distribution of value and to ensure sustainability. Within this new economy, every person will have equal opportunity to add value and receive compensation for their effort.
Beyond Sustainability
Environmental sustainability involves making decisions and taking actions that are in the interests of protecting the natural world.
We have established sustainable, exclusive relationships with local harvesters that are based on trust and mutual interest, which result in both high-quality raw ingredients and reliable, long-term sourcing.
Our rural community partners are based in Lesotho where 40% of the population lives below the International Poverty Line. Creating sustainable trade in these communities is a cornerstone of our business.
Aligning with Nature
1% for the Planet
Afraceuticals is a proud member of 1% for the Planet, a global movement whose members contribute at least one percent of their annual revenue to environmental causes.
We recognise that our business profits from natural resources that are harvested from the environment. We are committed not only to the protection of the African wilderness, but also to the conservation and regeneration of the wildlife we share it with.
South Africa and Lesotho are home to the African bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus meridionalis), whose entire range in the southern hemisphere falls within the Maluti-Drakensberg mountains. With only 350 individual birds and 109 breeding pairs remaining, the bearded vulture is listed as critically endangered in southern Africa due to its small and declining population size, restricted range, range contraction, and susceptibility to environmental conditions and human activities. Silver Hill Lodge, a privately owned 500-hectare tract of threatened midlands mist belt grasslands at the foot of the Maluti-Drakensberg mountains, is located at the heart of the bearded vulture’s range in South Africa. Beyond logistical and technical support, Afraceuticals has committed to long-term annual funding of 1% of the company's revenue to Silver Hill Lodge’s Bearded Vulture Conservation Project.
Nagoya Protocol
The Nagoya Protocol (on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilisation to the Convention on Biological Diversity) is an international agreement which aims at sharing the benefits arising from the utilisation of indigenous resources in a fair and equitable way.
Afraceuticals is committed to sustainable bioprospecting and ethical benefit sharing. Within communities, we are creating significant sustainable economic opportunities where no other ones exist. Trade is far more valuable and appreciated than aid in these communities.
