Cary, NC – Dr. Peter Radtke, one of the founders of Just Neem, is also our Neem expert.

Peter’s Background

Peter Radtke received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Marburg, Germany. Peter has worked for over 25 years in research and discovery of protein drugs, drug development, and manufacturing for major pharmaceutical companies.

In 1997 he and his family moved to North Carolina. Through a group of friends who had been working to bring economic opportunities to Mauritania, West Africa, Peter was introduced to the Neem tree, a hardy tree with potent medicinal properties and a natural, local resource in Mauritania.

Social Responsibility

Recognizing the economic potential and health benefits of these trees for this impoverished Saharan nation, he and his wife Magdalena, together with friends founded Just Neem, LLC a Body Care company in Cary, North Carolina.

“Our involvement in West Africa is the DNA of Just Neem. Our mission is to help establish Neem, a local resource in Africa, as a solution for economic and ecologic  problems”, says Peter. “It is my dream that the trees we are planting in the Sahara desert will transform the environment and the lives of people there.”

Just Neem uses the power of socially responsible and sustainable business to transform people and communities and to solve social, environmental, and health problems.

Formulating Just Neem

Peter and Magda have spent many hours researching and verifying the effects of Neem. Peter has developed many wonderful applications for delivering the benefits of Neem directly to the skin.

“Neem trees are fascinating plants that have a powerful biological defense against many insects, fungi and bacteria. Just Neem harvests these natural substances to create skin care products that effectively protect and heal skin.”

Neem contains oil with very high amounts of active bio-molecules. These bio-molecules hold a variety of beneficial compounds. Well-documented properties of Neem include its anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-viral effects. It’s with this healing oil that is the base of all Just Neem’s products.

Ask Peter!

“Ask Peter” is a column answering your questions about Neem and Neem Skin Treatments. If you are looking to nature for healthy skin, you may find it in the benefits of the Neem Tree.

Its rich history as a beauty treatment for the skin goes back thousands of years. Would you like to know how it’s qualities can restore your healthy skin?

Send Peter your questions about Neem and skin care here: info@justneem.com , Subject: Ask Peter

Read some of our earlier questions about dry hands, shaving, and cold sores.

Ken, our team Leader, with a Neem tree planted last year

Why We Work So Hard

JustNeem works with villagers in Mauritania, West Africa, to help establish economic opportunities for those living so close to the Sahara Desert. The Neem tree, is used to generate income for families simply by planting the tree and selling its leaves and fruit.

In collaboration with local organizations, we help create jobs centered around the Neem tree. With proceeds from our soap sales, we fund the planting of Neem trees in neighborhoods surrounding Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania. We’ve been traveling back and forth to Mauritania, bringing Neem harvested there for the last 5 years, paying a fair market price for labor and goods.

Pay day!

Update From Peter

“After arriving in Nouakchott, the capital, I took a 10 hour trip to Kaedi, a city in the southern part where the Neem nursery and orchard are located.  I was very pleased to see so many people working the field. This trip was in the middle of summer and therefore among the most physically challenging ones I have taken so far. On the other hand it was a great reminder to see why we are doing all this in the first place.

I helped harvest 1000 Neem seeds from existing trees. Ken and his team have already planted them all to grow more trees for the orchard.

To see plants and trees growing in such a hostile environment as the Sahara Desert is rewarding. Between the Neem, Mango and Jathropha trees that have been planted in the orchard, the workers planted vegetables, melons, and sorghum. One lady from the village was able to harvest the vegetables and sell them at the local market this summer.

The well we dug last year has since been equipped with a solar water pump. That water makes all the difference. We did some maintenance on it, replacing one of the hoses that had weakened and started leaking with a flexible pipe.

It was incredibly heartwarming to see over 30 young men coming to the field during this time of the year to pull weeds, plant seedlings and water the plants. The resources and training opportunities that are coming in through JustNeem are turning parched land into a space full of life.”

Cary, NC – JustNeem has some great, all natural gift ideas for the Holidays. And remember, our gifts give back too. Every purchase you make helps us create income opportunities in West Africa.

Our Story

Making a positive change in the world is very important to JustNeem. Our focus is Mauritania, West Africa. This area of Africa is 90% desert and the people there suffer with extreme drought and poverty.

There are very few natural resources that exist there, except for the indigenous desert tree, the Neem Tree. This mahogany-like tree, grows well in this part of Africa.

Because of it’s healing properties and history in medicinal practices, Neem is the base for all our products.

JustNeem Gives Hope & Healing with Neem

In Mauritania, West Africa, we create jobs centered around this tree. We purchase all our Neem raw material from Mauritania, using existing Neem trees and paying a fair market price for labor and goods.

This helps create jobs and generates income for families living with few resources. This is why we call ourselves Just Neem!

With proceeds from soap sales, JustNeem is now funding the planting of Neem trees in neighborhoods and have established a Neem tree orchard.

Buy a Soap and Help Plant a Tree!

Without our loyal customer support, the Neem orchard in Mauritania would not be possible. Thank you and please continue to enjoy our all natural body and skincare products.

*Click on images to see them enlarged.

We received pictures from our team in the southern part of the country. Besides caring for the small, transplanted trees, Ken and his men are growing vegetables which show an almost immediate result with the ongoing summer season in the Sahara Desert . When days get too hot, they find shelter underneath the solar panel that powers the pump in the well.

Watch three short VIDEO CLIPS from the ongoing work at the Neem orchard in southern Mauritania.

**Click on images and see them enlarged.

“After several days of travelling I finally have an Internet connection. The Neem tree project is going well – 200 trees are now in the ground, and more are being planted (though barely visible, yet, they are there!). The mango trees looked really good, too. Ken, and his buddies are doing an awesome job!”

First Neem trees planted in JustNeem's orchard (in rows, front to back)

Ken and his work crew

“Mauritania had a lot of rain this year, and it was good rain, meaning it did not come in one big down pour; it was spaced out over several months. Even last night there was a little shower – it never rains here in November. But once the heat starts this will change. We are now saving up money for a pump so Ken and his men don’t have to carry water in watering cans to each newly transplanted tree.

Vegetables between newly planted trees

JUSTNEEM NURSERY. Here is where the seedlings are grown before they are planted in the orchard. Besides neem trees we are also experimenting with mango trees and jatropha to create biodiversity and to diversified sources of income. We have calculated that the fruits from 10 mango trees will provide sufficient annual income for an entire family. Jatropha is used to make biodiesel. The project currently supports four full-time employees plus 8 - 10 part time workers. In the background you see neem seedlings that will be planted in September, right before the rainy season.

THE WELL. Nothing goes without water. So we had to get a well to provide water for our trees, at least for the first 2 - 3 years or so. Two guys had just finished digging this well a week before we arrived. What an amazing job!! All done by hand, pick ax, shovel and bucket. One man in the hole, digging, the other pulling up the dirt. Check out the mounds of dirt.

WATER. At a depth of 24 meter they struck water. Can you see it? Want to know how deep 24 meters is? IF you want to know how much it is, Google it.

The first night, we came home in the dark, and I had not paid attention in the morning to where I had put the matchbox to light a candle for light in the evening. If it had not been for my dear neighbor, who let me use her flashlight to help me get my bearings in a new place, I would have had a terrible time making my bed in the pitch black room I had never slept in . And of course, I never again left the room in the morning without putting the matches in a place that I would surely remember in the evening .  Here is a picture of my room:

During my time there, we held a small Neem soap making workshop. It was quite an adventure  from gathering all the equipment we needed to teaching the handling of Sodium Hydroxide. Full of anticipation, we watched the finished product come together.

See some pictures from the workshop…

SOAP MAKING WORKSHOP

We started out discussing safety measures and had lots of fun with it, as you can see

Then we prepared the molds for the test batches,

stirred the soap,

poured it,

and — ta da!! held the finished product in our very own hands!

They were met with a lot of excitement and in the course of the event, while cows milk was passed around in a wooden bowl as refreshment, the piece of land  in the picture below was offered to our team. Negotiations are now under way  to use this land to plant Neem trees for JustNeem, while creating jobs and income opportunities for the village.

While on the road, they came to this village (below), where a large Neem tree has become the center of village life. What an awesome perspective to plant many more of these trees in many more Saharan Desert villages!

Our Mauritanian friend has become quite an enthusiastic Neem tree grower. We call him Johnny Appleseed, because, like him,  he takes a few Neem tree seedlings along wherever he goes and shares them with others. Watch him here plant one of them:

He first digs a hole with any tool he can find . . .

. . . then plants the Neem tree seedling and adds natural  fertilizer (camel or goat dung) . . .

. . . adds water . . .

. . . and anything available to protect the little tree from hungry goats .

In this case he found a broken bucket, knocked the bottom out and added an old spring mattress that he found in nearby bushes as additional protection. A great way of recycling .