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Sharing the Heritage: Equal Exchange Visit to South Africa |
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By Rob Everts
Posted: November 17, 2006
Nearly two hundred years ago the ancestors of our Rooibos tea growing partners were pushed off their land, to the most remote outer reaches of the Western Cape province of South Africa. It was to these arid mountains and plateaus that four of us from Equal Exchange just traveled to learn the experience of the Wupperthal and Heiveld cooperatives, and to uncover the secrets of Rooibos, a plant grown nowhere else in the world. While this exploration has really just begun, the journey planted us right in the middle of the achievements, contradictions and unfinished story of today's post-apartheid South Africa.
The small farmers take enormous pride in their struggle for independence. From our conversations it seemed this pride stemmed from both the new found access to friendly buyers and the potential brought forth by the abolition of apartheid. And it was here that the larger South African context touched every aspect of our learning.
With the historic transition to black majority rule in 1994, Mandela and the governing ANC inherited a nearly impossible situation: a country where whites had every institutional advantage while blacks for generations had been systematically denied land ownership, quality education, housing and health care. And this coincided with the explosion of HIV/AIDS which has driven down the average lifespan in South Africa by more than fifteen years. Apartheid's other devastating legacy is a crime rate among the highest in the world. The government has succeeded in extending basic services to many for the first time. Statutes protecting previously vulnerable populations were enacted, though as anywhere, enforcement can be inconsistent. And the path the new government chose to end its decades of economic isolation resulting from apartheid was that of free trade.
Enter Fair Trade. As Equal Exchange deepens its commitment to small farmers, the larger Fair Trade certification network (FLO) has invited large plantations into the system in crops such as table grapes, wine, citrus — and Rooibos. In the South African context, the plantations have a two hundred year head start. So it goes that Rooibos tea will be an area where Equal Exchange follows our mission and takes on where necessary the FLO system that has drifted from its early roots of commitment to market access for small farmers.
For our new partners at Wupperthal and Heiveld, this is an exciting prospect. Not only do they feel passionate about the quality of their unique product, they are eager to share the heritage of their Khoi San ancestors. The early returns are positive: just four months after its introduction, the consumer response to our Organic, Fair Trade Rooibos has exceeded expectations. We encourage you to try this delightfully flavored non-caffeinated tea. And to share the heritage. |
Cederberg Mountains in South Africa. Origins of Rooibos.
Hendrik Hesselman, Chairperson of the Heiveld Co-op and Rooibos Farmer
Deepak Khandelwal, Equal Exchange Tea Manager, examining a wild Rooibos bush growing on Hendrik's farm
Rooibos
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Farmer Partners 
