Value proposition

For 25 years we have tackled landmines and tuberculosis around the world using trained scent detection animals.

APOPO was founded in response to growing awareness that landmines kill and maim people and hamper development in post-conflict areas. Methods to rid affected countries of landmines were slow so a small team in Belgium founded APOPO to develop a fast, simple and cost-efficient mine clearance technology that could be sustained within national mine action programs in low-income countries. APOPO developed a unique method using trained rats, and now, over 25 years later, APOPO is a global leader in scent detection animals.

As a research organization, APOPO is always at the forefront in developing new humanitarian and environmental scent detection applications. Our core operational activities are in the fields of Mine Action and tuberculosis (TB) control.

The main training and research center is based at the Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania. APOPO has Mine Action operations in Angola, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Mozambique, Senegal, South Sudan and Zimbabwe; and TB-research laboratories in Tanzania, Mozambique, and Ethiopia where trained rats work in combination with confirmatory technology to stop TB. APOPO is supported by a large international network of diverse partners and donors as well as the general public, and has foundations in Switzerland, the United States, and the United Kingdom.


Detection rats technology, Landmine detection and clearance, Tuberculosis detection and diagnostics, Product research and development, Carbon offsetting, Land release, Technical Detection Dogs, and Mine Detection Dogs