Catnip Repellent's Real Test: From Lab to Market

Field trials in Uganda show a catnip-oil lotion matches Deet's mosquito-repelling power. But efficacy is not the bottleneck. The harder challenge: whether local manufacturing and sales can sustain the product after grant funding ends. Manufacturing consistency, shelf stability, and transition to paying customers have derailed comparable social enterprises before. The commercialization model—not the science—will determine whether this becomes a deployable malaria-control tool or remains a documented curiosity.