Aspects of the sustainability of the cultivated honeybush tea industry, South Africa

Abstract

Honeybush tea (Cyclopia genus) is a nutraceutical, naturally-sweet herbal tea species that is endemic to the Fynbos biome in the Eastern and Western Cape Provinces of South Africa. There are 23 Cyclopia species that are distinguished by their adaption to survive after natural, recurrent Fynbos fires. The two main fire survival strategies are (i) resprouters (which resprout stems from lignotubers) and reseeders (which regenerate from seeds). Species of commercial importance are (i) C. genistoides, C. intermedia, and C. sessiliflora (resprouters) and (ii) C. maculata, C. subternata and C. longifolia (reseeder). In the past, the bulk annual production of honeybush (approximately 85%) was derived from wild populations, leading to the growing need for cultivation to supplement the wild-harvested plant material. However, for the first time in the industry's history, the annual harvest from cultivated stands surpassed that of wild-harvested populations in 2022–2023. This was pivotal for the industry which had previously seen the decline of C. intermedia and C. subternata (which previously contributed to approximately 95% of wild-harvested crops) due to factors such as unlawful harvesting, fires, overharvesting, urban expansion, and IAP encroachment. There is now an increasing demand to keep reducing pressure on wild honeybush populations while ensuring a consistent supply of high-quality cultivated honeybush products. This research, underpinned by sustainability science and a mixed-method approach, aimed to investigate the nature of successful and unsuccessful cultivated honeybush tea enterprises (using a sustainability lens). The goal was to contribute to a potential way forward for the cultivated industry. The objectives of this research were: (i) to create an updated inventory of the cultivated honeybush tea industry, (ii) to investigate the environmental, economic, and social practices in successful cultivation enterprises, (iii) to investigate the challenges experienced by unsuccessful, transitioning and community enterprises and, (iv) to develop a sustainable resource use framework considering environmental, economic, and social aspects which might be useful for the honeybush cultivation industry. The cultivated honeybush industry’s inventory was updated and mapped for 2023. The sustainable aspects of five successful enterprises (located between Bredasdorp and Kurland in the Western Cape) were investigated (through semi-structured interviews, mapping (LULC change analysis and Maxent species distribution mapping), plant surveys, biodiversity surveys, soil surveys and estimates of yield costs for the species of commercial importance). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine key participants (who have exited the industry or are part of the community enterprises) to determine the current challenges within the industries. Key challenges included the lack of; (i) market awareness for the industry, (ii) financial and natural capital, (iii) dissatisfaction with prices for wet honeybush tea) and (iv) the scale of enterprises. This research harmonises the social, economic and environmental aspects of the cultivated honeybush tea industry (using a geographic lens) into a cultivated honeybush tea industry sustainable framework to ensure that the cultivated industry is better understood (at the forefront of its gradual evolution).