Kenya Mission
The cultivation of Artemisia, combined with permaculture and the development of derivative products such as Artemiel (Artemisia Honey), are at the heart of the One Health approach of the Artemisia Houses in Kenya. The Artemisia House France team visited the site at the end of September 2025, before travelling to Arusha in Tanzania for the 1st International Symposium on Artemisia.
It was the perfect opportunity just before the symposium: to visit the Kenya Artemisia Houses situated within a 300 km radius of the border with Tanzania, two years after the last mission to the region.
The objectives were:
- to revisit the rapidly developing Artemisia Houses in Nairobi and Namelok
- to discover the new Artemisia House in Migori, created in 2024, with its original Artemiel (Artemisia Honey) project
- to meet the representative of the new Artemisia House in Chepchoina on the Ugandan border and that of the future Artemisia House in Siaya (one of the poorest districts in the country and one of the most affected by malaria), whose representative had travelled to Migori for the occasion
- to structure a national vision.
Kenya has eight local Artemisia Houses, soon to be nine, and one national Artemisia House, located in very different ecosystems: lush tropical jungle vegetation, dry savannah landscapes, high altitude plateaus, lake regions, etc. The geographic, economic, social and water conditions vary considerably from one Artemisia House to another. Each one is unique: some are run by farmers, others by doctors or community representatives.
A model permaculture farm
The first port of call on this mission was Mlango Farm in the Nairobi region, founded in 2007 by Kamande Njenga and Els Breet, a Kenyan-Dutch couple. Over the past 18 years, Mlango Farm has grown considerably. Today, a team of 70 people cultivates more than 12 acres of organic fruit and vegetables (60 different crops) and produces farm baskets distributed to restaurants, lodges and individuals. Mlango Farm supports the Mlango Farm Foundation, an organisation that offers school visits and educational programmes on the farm. The Mlango Farm Artemisia House was created in 2020 and is both a local Artemisia House and the National Artemisia House for Kenya.
Artemisia annua and Artemisia afra grow freely and abundantly at Mlango Farm, filling all the empty spaces between plantations. It is a true benchmark for all Artemisia Houses in the country, a model permaculture farm that is particularly inspiring for the network.
Hope for the Maasai community
Different geography, different issues. The Namelok Artemisia House was created in 2022 by Karine Rapp and her Maasai husband Koitamet to support the community of Naikarra (Narok West). The couple began cultivating Artemisia annua and afra. They planted hedges of Artemisia afra around schools and houses to use as a mosquito repellent. The project is part of the overall development of the Maasai community led by the Namelok Farm Association.
Namelok’s ambition is to become a One Health reference centre for the Maasai, combining Artemisia cultivation and organic farming with a social and solidarity economy model. The challenge is to support the Maasai community following its sedentarisation by developing its resources and food security. The on-site mission made it possible to lay the concrete foundations for this ambition.
The promise of Artemisia Honey
The Migori Artemisia House, a few kilometres from the Tanzanian border, was founded in 2024 by psychiatrist Judith Owuor. She is assisted on site by gynaecologist David Obuya. Their approach is rooted in a medical ecosystem and centred around the community of Franciscan sisters of St Monica Rapogi, which runs a school (1000 students) and a dispensary. This new Artemisia House began with the idea of developing Artemiel, a mixture of Artemisia and honey that reduces the bitterness of the plant and is particularly suitable for children.
The Migori Artemisia House is developing this project with the support of the Apiflordev association, which has financed the honey processing unit. Its objectives are as follows:
• to develop a collaboration with the Franciscan sisters’ community for a comprehensive project: cultivation of Artemisia afra in the schoolyard + Artemiel to treat children and their families.
• conduct a clinical study on Artemiel with the Migori hospital.
Network strength and skills sharing
Discussions with representatives and teams from 5 Mda in Kenya, including three gathered in Migori, made it possible to: enrich approaches (the agroecological skills of some enriching the medical skills of others and vice versa) and structure a national vision.
This mission was also supported by the momentum generated by the 1st International Symposium on Artemisia, held a few days later in Arusha, Tanzania. Doctors from the Migori Artemisia House travelled to Arusha to present to the scientific community attending the symposium their clinical case studies on the use of Artemisia herbal tea by patients suffering from malaria who were resistant to conventional treatments.
This mission highlighted the strength of the network: the Houses of Artemisia are multidisciplinary centres of expertise with an inclusive community approach, combined with the international scientific community.
