The bitter side of honeybush: exclusion and inequality in South Africa’s honeybush tea industry

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Written by Marta Cefaro, based on her research for her Master’s thesis in rural development and natural resource management at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, in collaboration with Nelson Mandela University under the supervision of George Sekonya and Klara Fischer. Marta’s research is driven by an interest in the distribution of benefits within supply chains and the protection of Indigenous rights. First published on SIANI website.

Honeybush (Cyclopia spp.), a plant endemic to South Africa, has gained international popularity in recent decades for its health benefits, particularly as a tea. Linked to the Khoi and San peoples (Indigenous Peoples of southern Africa who were living in the area before Bantu-speaking agropastoralists), who hold traditional knowledge related to its use, honeybush has been a source of livelihood for generations. Despite their vital role in developing this knowledge, these communities are excluded from the commercial boom. Why? The answers are rooted in South Africa’s systemic inequalities.

Commercialization for whom?

Historically, honeybush was traditionally processed at home for household consumption or local sale, but since the 1990s the industry has shifted towards more formalized commercial structures. This shift has excluded local communities from value-added stages of production. Communities of traditional knowledge holders are only involved in the first stage of the supply chain: the wild harvesting of the plant. The harvested raw material is then sold to processing facilities where it is processed, packaged, and marketed. Without access to resources such as capital and technology, these communities are unable to process and market the tea themselves, leaving them with only a minimal share of the final product’s value.

The story of the Zoar community

The village of Zoar is located in the Kannaland Municipality in the Western Cape province of the country.  The story and challenges of commercializing honeybush in the Zoar community mirror the complexity of natural resource governance in rural South Africa. Within the community of Zoar, traditional leaders – who exist alongside state authorities in many rural villages of South Africa –  play a key role in the governance of honeybush. They claim control over who gets access to communal lands, where wild honeybush is harvested, and how the benefits from its sale are distributed. Community members who are not part of the traditional authority can only benefit from honeybush harvesting by selling their labor as wild harvesters during harvesting season.

Governance issues are further complicated by the overlap and competition between two different authorities: the local Communal Property Association and the village’s traditional authority. In rural villages undergoing land restitution, South African law permits the creation of Communal Property Associations (CPAs). These are legal entities that can be democratically elected by community members and their primary purpose is to manage communal land on behalf of the community. However, under customary law—recognized by South African legislation—land administration is the responsibility of traditional authorities, who have historically fulfilled this role in rural villages. This situation leads to an overlap between the roles of the two institutions and creates a permanent power struggle. In Zoar, while communal land has been transferred to the CPA, traditional leaders claim their role as decision-makers in local resource governance. This conflict raises questions about which institutions can be considered legitimate and accountable for local resource management, such as the one of honeybush.

Government solutions fall short

Confronted with such inequalities, the South African government has recognized the importance of integrating marginalized communities into the commercialization of biological resources, such as honeybush, through initiatives like Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) agreements. These agreements are intended to ensure that local communities receive a fair share of the benefits resulting from the commercial use of biological resources, particularly when traditional knowledge is involved. However, the implementation of ABS agreements faces significant challenges.

One of the key criticisms is that the negotiation process for ABS agreements often favors more powerful, organized actors, leaving out less-recognized communities or individuals. In many cases, these agreements are negotiated between the industry and traditional leaders, who may not represent and be recognized by all knowledge holders. This situation risks perpetuating inequalities within communities, as those with less access to power or resources are excluded from benefiting from the industry.

Inequalities rooted in the country’s colonial and apartheid history

A major issue with ABS agreements is that they do not address and challenge structural inequalities in access to resources such as land, capital and technology. By leaving power relations unchanged, they do not enable the development of community-based or -owned businesses.

The barriers to equitable inclusion in the honeybush industry are deeply rooted in South Africa’s colonial and apartheid history. These historical injustices have entrenched patterns of exclusion, through land dispossession and inequitable resource distribution, which continue to hinder communities’ access to the resources needed for meaningful participation in the development of a biodiversity economy.

A way forward

The commercialization of honeybush might offer economic potential for local communities in South Africa, but this can only be realized if deeply rooted inequalities are addressed. On one hand, reliance on traditional authorities for resource control and negotiations risks sidelining marginalized groups or individuals. On the other hand, mechanisms like ABS agreements fail to tackle the structural inequalities that underpin exclusion from the industry. A more inclusive approach to honeybush commercialization is needed – one that empowers communities through improved access to resources, supports community-owned enterprises, and ensures equitable governance structures.

Gendered perspectives on nature-positive solutions: insights from small-scale farmers in Kenya

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A farmer showing her field in Kisumu County, Kenya. Her fields had suffered severe soil erosion in recent few years. Photo by Elsa Wallin for NATURE+

This blog post is written by Dickson Kinuthia, International Food Policy Research Institute, and Elsa Wallin, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. It was first published at CGIAR blog.

Nature-positive solutions face many barriers to adoption. Research in Kenya shows that entrenched gender roles, which tend to leave women the brunt of the work and lesser economic power, need to be considered for the successful implementation of nature-positive agriculture, particularly if it leads to higher farm income. The design and implementation of nature-positive solutions therefore requires keen attention to the gender divide.

Agricultural-based livelihoods, especially for women and other marginalized groups, are at risk due to multiple challenges including climate change, entrenched inequality, lack of investment to improve livelihoods and inadequate policy frameworks to support small-scale producers.

Additionally, the prioritization of mass-scale production of cheap food, industrial agriculture has inflicted a disastrous cost on the environment and people, leading to deforestation, land degradation, water depletion and biodiversity loss and increased global greenhouse gas emissions. global greenhouse gas emissions. This status-quo approach to agriculture adds to the challenges faced by smallholders, who rely on healthy, natural systems to eke out a living.

The CGIAR Nature-Positive Solutions Initiatives (NATURE+) aims to address these challenges by re-imagining, co-creating, and transforming agri-food systems to deliver food and livelihoods for people sustainably. This involves responsible natural resources management, enabling agriculture to be a net positive contributor to nature, and staying within planetary boundaries. Nature-positive solutions are critical for reducing and reversing biodiversity loss while improving food production and strengthening smallholder farmers’ resilience.

However, research remains limited on the gender-differentiated impacts of unsustainable agricultural practices, perception, awareness of and preferences for nature-positive solutions, and capacities to contribute to nature-positive food systems. A qualitative study conducted under the framework of NATURE+ in Kenya aims to shed light and understand gender differences in perception, awareness, constraints and incentives to the adoption of nature-positive solutions. The results presented here draw on this qualitative data collected in the Kenyan counties of Kajiado, Kisumu and Vihiga.

The NATURE+ research team at a farm in Kisumu County, Kenya that has mango trees integrated in the field. Photo: courtesy of Elsa Wallin for NATURE+

The overall pattern of labor division revealed clear gendered responsibilities. For example, women actively engaged in planting maize and vegetables for household consumption or lower-value market sales. Men engaged in planting beans, millet, and other crops that fetch higher prices in the market. Moreover, men were involved in field preparations such as ploughing, as this was perceived to be a challenging task that required a man’s strength. Women, on the other hand, played a key role in planting, weeding, and harvesting, often tedious and time-consuming tasks. Concerning livestock, men tended to own cattle, sheep, and goats while women often only owned poultry, which are less profitable.

Despite limited ownership of livestock, women played a significant role in caring for livestock. They were involved in feeding the animals and milking the cows. A male participant in Kajiado County explained that the woman in the household was responsible for milking the cows and cleaning the cowshed and “the man comes in only during the slaughtering and selling of cattle.”

In addition to the farm work, women carried a considerable burden of responsibilities in the home. This led women to work long hours and have less free time than men in general. In the literature, this is often referred to as time poverty, affecting women. Therefore, women have limited possibilities to participate in training on nature-positive solutions and to adopt beneficial agricultural practices that are more time-consuming, such as nature-positive practices.

Technology-adoption questions

Many farmers expressed a vision of a more mechanized agriculture future to run their farms. However, the adoption of technology could have both positive and negative gender outcomes. For example, the time-consuming activity of fetching water was the responsibility of women and children, but in case a motorcycle was used men were willing to help with the task, thus reducing the disproportionate allocation on household chores for women. Similarly, the threshing and winnowing of sorghum was another female-dominated task performed manually, but if machinery were used, men would be willing to participate. However, it could also have the contrary effect of men taking over and excluding women from the activity and as such keeping them from learning and limiting their influence on decision-making on sorghum cultivation and sale.

The gender division of labor and control of agricultural resources could vary slightly according to the household structure. Monogamous families had a clear structure of the man being the head of the household, overseeing decisions related to crops and livestock. In polygamous families, resources such as livestock and land were often strictly divided between the wives and therefore allowed for some more independence in decision-making. However, the husband was the ultimate owner, and the wives were still required to do the necessary labor to care for the men’s fields and livestock. In female-headed households, women were less confined by strict gender roles and could participate in tasks and acquire skills they were traditionally not given access to. Despite this, they often had low access to resources limiting the productivity and management of their farm.

Considering that women were in general disfavored when it came to agricultural resource access and ownership and had a disproportionate burden of time-consuming responsibilities, gender and women empowerment needs to be at the core when promoting nature-positive solutions or sustainable agricultural practices in general. Nevertheless, men could perceive it as threatening to their role as household heads and providers if women got too much influence in agricultural decision-making processes. A key take-away is therefore to work simultaneously to support women’s empowerment and educate and involve men to reduce the risk of tensions within the community. This is crucial in promoting long-term sustainability when supporting small-scale farmers in transitioning to nature-positive solutions.

In conclusion, nature-positive solutions are critical for restoration and prevention of further biodiversity loss and environmental degradation, while ensuring that agricultural production bridges the food and nutrition security gap. Understanding gender-differentiated roles, constraints, and preferences can enable policymakers and practitioners to design and promote nature-positive practices that meet men’s and women’s needs while protecting nature. These should be disseminated in ways that reach, benefit, and empower women. Gender-responsive design and scaling of nature-positive solutions can help reduce gender inequalities in agrifood systems, while enabling both men and women to contribute to environmental sustainability.

Reflections on two months of fieldwork in Moroto, Uganda: Exploring kitchen gardens and their role in food security

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This blog post was written by Mary Theodorah Ajal, Master’s student in Sustainable Food Systems at SLU.

Theodorah in one of the kitchen gardens in Uganda. Photo: Justin Kitibwa 

Returning to Sweden after 8 weeks of intense data collection/fieldwork in Moroto, Northeastern Uganda, is great. In October 2024, I received a Minor Field Study grant through SLU Global, financed by Sida, that facilitated my research and stay in Uganda. I travelled to Uganda in the first week of October 2024.

My journey to Moroto by bus was filled with wonder, curiosity, and surprises as we drew closer to the Karamoja region. The 7-hour journey from my hometown, Tororo, to Moroto, was a fascinating experience, with the bus making numerous stops to pick up passengers along the trading centers. The most surprising twist was when goats, chickens, sacs of charcoal, and big jerrycans of local brew were added to the bus. We, the passengers, livestock, and other items, got tucked together like peas in a pod, utilizing all spaces including the bus aisle space. It was a journey filled with unexpected discoveries!

I was welcomed and received by the Drylands Transform team of Uganda, Professor Denis Mpairwe, Dr Alice Turinawe, and Mr. Zachary Angella, who offered me valuable guidance during my fieldwork and stay in Uganda.

My research on Characterization and productivity of kitchen gardens and their contributions to food security and livelihoods in Karamoja covered six sub-counties (Nadunget, Northern Division, Loputuk, Katikekile, Rupa, and Lotisan) and 16 villages (Ariamawoi, Kalkalet, kamera, Katamukono, Kidepo, Lakalia, Longoroko, Matheniko, Moroto hospital quarters, Moroto junior quarters, Moroto prisons, Municipal primary, Nabuin, Nadiket, Nakapelimen, and Okilala), within a 40km radius in Moroto district. The study respondent categories included households, development partners/NGOs, government, Drylands Transform team, and Kitchen garden trainers.

It was interesting interacting with the households in the study and learning about their experiences with kitchen gardening and why they started. The commonest motives for household kitchen gardening have been food, income, motivation by government and development partners, leisure, and others because of their great passion for gardening.

It was also interesting to know what different participants considered a kitchen garden and what the development partners/NGOs and the government considered the most successful kitchen gardening approach.

My research also uncovered a diverse range of kitchen gardening approaches. Some development partners/NGOs considered backyard gardening the most successful approach, while others believed the Farmer field school was the most successful. I also came across a fascinating kitchen gardening approach that uses E-learning books about kitchen garden use and construction—an approach where tablets are given to tablet teachers. The community can learn about kitchen gardening with tablets by watching short clips and illustrations on step-by-step guides and the materials used. The community members touch on an area of their choice on the tablet, which then pops up on the screen with audio translated into Karamojong. This diversity of approaches was truly enlightening.

It was interesting to know that respondents in the study perceived and defined a kitchen garden differently; however, the definitions had similar components, such as the purpose of the garden, its proximity to home, its proximity to a water source, the techniques used, and its size.

Although learning about kitchen gardens was interesting and enlightening, I experienced some challenges.

For instance, my translator and I had to travel long distances by foot to locate kitchen gardens since it was a dry season and few households had them. This was physically demanding and time-consuming. I also experienced challenges with access to the field, especially when it rained. The roads were very slippery when it rained, so I postponed fieldwork until the sun shone brightly. Once, we crossed a flowing river to get to the next village, which was a risky and challenging task.

Walking long distances to locate the kitchen gardens. Photo: Justin Kitibwa

Sometimes even crossing flowing rivers. Photo: Justin Kitibwa

Moroto town is close to a military training school. Whenever the soldiers had their training, the gunshots and other sounds made by the military equipment were loud. It always felt like there was a war going on. I am glad that by the time I left, the gunshots never bothered me like before.

During my research in Moroto, I learned the importance of being flexible and having an open mind. These qualities facilitate learning and fact-finding and create room for innovation.

I learned the importance of a sound support system comprised of networks and relationships. This support system played a crucial role in my research process. Whenever I struggled with my research or on one of those low days, I contacted one of my networks or relations for help. Their guidance and support were invaluable in overcoming challenges and staying motivated. I travelled with my children to Uganda; my family took care of my children while I focused on the research.

Parallel with writing this blog post, I am now writing on my master’s thesis.

All in all, I would like to thank my supervisor, Prof. Ingrid Ă–born, Assoc. Prof. Sigrun Dahlin, Prof. Agneta Hörnell, Dr Alice Turinawe, Dr Stephen Mureithi, and Prof. Denis Mpairwe, thank you for your continuous support and guidance for my master’s thesis. I want to thank Ms. Kitibwa Justin, who helped me with translations during the research, and Mr. Zachary Angelle, who coordinated all the fieldwork activities and ensured I was safe and comfortable while in Moroto.  Lastly, I would like to thank my family, friends, and colleagues for their priceless support. Thanks to SLU Global for the Minor Field Study grant that facilitated my travel and research activities in Uganda.

Financial adventures in the Democratic Republic of Congo – going back to the basics

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This blog is written by Therese Rantakokko, financial officer at SLU Global.

The campus at the Université Catholique de Congo. Photo: Therese Rantakokko

“What is your profession?” That is the first question I received while going through migration at Kinshasa airport. With my rather poor Duolingo French I manage to explain that I’m a financial officer. A financial officer you might think, what is a financial officer doing on a duty travel in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) when the project is about environmental assessment? Shouldn’t it be the researcher travelling? Is it really necessary for a financial officer to travel so far to such to a country to where only necessary travels are allowed according to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Sweden?

My answer, which of course is subjective, is Yes. Without a working administration in the background, the researchers will have problems in conducting their tasks. The administrators and financial people in the team are important. In a context like in the DRC it is even more important that the administration is running, if not smooth, at least as smoothly as possible. A project like this might be seen as having two sides, the Swedish and the Congolese. However, that is not the way you can look at a cooperation like this. We are one team, where each team member contributes with their expertise weather it is a professor, a student or a financial officer.

I know the Swedish context and I have been working with projects funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation (Sida) for the last ten years. My colleague at the Université Catholique de Congo (UCC), in the DRC, knows the local context there and have a long experience from working with other funders. By working together, we will make sure that the administrative routines are in place. That the legal framework on both the Swedish side and Congolese side is fulfilled. Together we can also build routines that are efficient for the project.

My Congolese colleague Othis Kitoko and I. Photo: SĹ“ur Marie-Rose Ndimbo

At SLU we work in a very digital environment to handle our financial matters, more or less everything is handled in systems that are digital and integrated with each other. It is hard to do something outside the systems. In the DRC on the other hand, there are almost no digital systems. It is a context relying very much on cash. Despite the different contexts we have one project and need to report everything as one project, therefor it is of great importance that we understand each other’s contexts and discuss these issues within the team.

At SLU the accounting on an invoice is made in the system and we can easily withdraw the reports we need just by clicking. My problem sometimes is about which report to use as there are so many in the system. My colleague at the UCC on the other side, have to create the reports from the cashbooks, often by using an Excel file. A lot of the information that the system keeps track of for me, he has to keep track of manually, such as how the payment was made, by bank transfer, cash or check. It is not always easy, and you need to keep your papers and files in order. The order of the files and documentation must also be easy for someone else to follow. Projects funded by Sida are always externally audited.

SĹ“ur Marie-Rose Ndimbo and Othis Kitoko. Photo: Therese Rantakokko

Lunch break with my Congolese colleagues Othis Kitoko, Seur Marie-Rose Ndimbo and Bila-Isia Inogwabini (right). Photo: Therese Rantakokko

However, this way of working is not new to me. Some 20 years ago I was working in Sudan for a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO). Although the NGO had a great financial system at the headquarters (HQ) back in Europe, we were not using it in the field. Internet access was limited, and we used Excel-files that was imported to the financial system on regular basis for the HQ to do their follow ups. One of the first things I got to learn while working in Sudan was how to create simple pivot-tables in Excel in order to get reports that we could use on daily basis. In this way we could get the reports we needed to conduct our work, and we did not have to wait for the HQ to send us the monthly reports. During this visit to DRC it was my turn to introduce pivottables to my colleague. From this we can build our project reports fulfilling the needs of the project as well as from the funder. When working in contexts with different conditions going back to basics is the way forward as Basic knowledge never fades.

 

 

Challenging young minds

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This blog post is written by Kerstin Scragg, teacher at Celsiusskolan in Uppsala. 

Me and Erik, one of the high school students from SLU Youth Institute.

I have had the great pleasure to join SLU Youth Institute in Des Moines, Iowa, to participate at Global Youth Institute and the World Food Prize conference which focuses on future food security. We have enjoyed inspiring talks and lectures, participated in different workshops and our two Swedish high school students have presented essays at a round table conversation together with other students and experts in respective field.  I work as a teacher at a high school in Uppsala and this trip really started a year ago when I signed my class up to write the Global Youth Institute’s Global Challenge essay. The overall topic of these essays is the UN’s sustainable development goal 2, End Hunger. The students chose a country with food insecurity related problems, in addition, they described the food security situation in the country and explained what is currently being done to battle these issues. In the end, they handed their essays in to SLU Youth Institute where some were chosen to participate in one of three round table conversations, given at each campus. One, out of these twenty-five students at each round table conversation, was elected to go to the U.S. to present the essay and take part of the Global Youth Institute conference in Des Moines, so here we are.

At the Global Youth Institute in Des Moines, we have enjoyed several interesting talks and presentations by leading figures in the battle of ending hunger globally, such as the CEO at the African Bank, the United States Secretary of Agriculture, this years’ World Food Prize laureates and many more. One example of a lecture was when we learned more about deep space travelling and some challenges feeding the crew during these journeys. Another interesting lecture taught us how artificial intelligence, AI, can help women in agriculture.

Maja and Erik at the House of Laureates

What I find inspiring is how these, about a hundred teenagers, are at the very centre of it all. Whether it being the content of the talks or activities chosen, all is relevant and elaborated for these possible future researchers and policy makers and, despite the long days, seems to succeed in engaging them no matter the topic. It is truly luxurious to watch and take part in these days, which I am sure will shape these young minds for a long time. This is not only an important investment for the future but also a way to let these students know how much they matter.

We are probably all aware of some of the challenges that Swedish schools face, such as large class sizes, which leads to the fact that it can be difficult to challenge gifted students every lesson. During this conference students are just that, they are challenged both socially and intellectually. To me, seeing my student, along with the others, being stimulated and inspired by the activities and talks at the Global Youth Institute, has been the most rewarding part of the journey and I can only hope I get to send more students to Global Youth Institute in the future.

 

SLU Youth Institute (SLU YI) aims to create interest among Swedish youth for global food security and to find sustainable solutions to the global challenges based on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. SLU Youth Institute is the Swedish part of many Youth Institutes coordinated by the World Food Prize Foundation. Read more at our Swedish website!