Tagged: benefit sharing

Some of the Oldest Rooibos Never Reached a Cup

The earliest documented Khoi and San use of rooibos was not only a drink. It was something you put on your skin, and the record of that use is older than the industry that grew from it.

Rooibos Pays the Khoi and San for Their Knowledge

Since 2019 the rooibos industry has paid the Khoi and San a share of its earnings for the knowledge that the red bush makes a drink. Here is how that came about, how the levy works, and the argument that it does not go far enough.

The Sustainability of Rooibos

Sustainability in rooibos is four subjects rather than one: the fynbos the crop is planted on, the wild plant that still grows unfarmed above it, the certification marks that each promise something different, and the question of who owns the land and who receives the money. This is the canonical account of all four, with the figures each of them rests on.