May 2006

The Cedarberg region, about 400 km North of Cape Town, is a dry, sandy and rocky area. The first im­pression a visitor has is that nothing of value could grow in this climate. But this apparently infertile soil is the home of one of the most appreciated teas in the world, Rooibos, or red bush tea.

Rooibos is the blood of the people of the arid Ced­arberg. Apart from extensive live-stock farming, sheep and goats, the production of Rooibos is the only economic activity in the region. But not everybody benefits the same way from the production of the precious beverage. The social problems caused by the Apartheid regime still remain. For decades, the majority of the population in the area was discriminated against and people were referred to as „coloureds“. Even though some had small farms of their own, their only option for a steady income was to work as cheap labour on the farms of the whites. The organization of “coloured” people into organiza­tions like cooperatives was suppressed during the Apartheid regime and they had no access to the market in order to sell their small amounts of produce. Even after the end of the Apartheid re­gime and the first democratic elections in 1994, a lot of black smallholders in South Africa still do not have direct access to the market and have to sell their tea for bad conditions to white wholesal­ers. Most of them still do not have export licenses or their own equipment for tea production.

The Heiveld Cooperative represents the first suc­cessful example of black ownership of an export­ing business in the whole Cedarberg region. The cooperative, a group of small farmers who pro­duce Rooibos and Wild Tea, started off - unof­ficially - in 2000 with hardly anything to work with, except the support of two NGOs and the dedica­tion of its 14 founding members.

Achievements

Starting on this small scale, in only six years the cooperative has achieved a lot. Soon after its foundation, Heiveld showed the first positive results. Women started to farm small fields and receive their own income. A group of women also founded an initiative to sew small cotton sacks for tea to be sold in the South African and European markets. And for the first time farmers and their family members assumed managerial tasks and were trained in accounting, electronic data processing and other areas. Things were going well but Heiveld wanted to achieve better access to the international fair trade market. The question was how? Fairtrade Certification was the answer. The members of the cooperative participated in a consultation about whether it would be beneficial to enter the FLO system and the outcome was very positive. “When FLO placed Rooibos Standards on the Fairtrade register in 2003, we immediately applied for registration and certification” explains Hendrik Hesselman, the Chairperson of the cooperative.

A few months after applying, the Heiveld cooperative became FLO certified.The economic impact of Fairtrade marketing has been very significant. By selling Rooibos tea to Fairtrade importers, the income of the farmers’ families tripled from circa one Euro per kg to currently around three Euros. In 2005, the cooperative received 5,80 Euro plus a Fairtrade Premium of 0,50 Euro per kg of processed tea in order to compensate  for a bad harvest. “There is a huge difference from when we sold to the large farmers. In the past the link between buyer and seller was missing – the buyer just gave whatever price they wanted, it wasn’t related to our standard of living."

"Fairtrade changes this", explains Lionel Louw, Board Member of the Heiveld Cooperative. Besides improving the farmers’ standard of living, the main goal from the beginning was to make the smallholders independent from wholesalers and neighbouring white farmers. Due to the Fairtrade Premium this became possible. They were able to buy their own equipment for tea production, such as their own tea chopping machine, and subsequently didn’t have to use the facilities of other farms any longer.The last step was the construction of the cooperative’s own tea-court, a primary processing facility where raw green tea is finely chopped, fermented and subsequently dried. “In the first five seasons following its formation, the cooperative rented a tea court from a large-scale commercial farmer. However, access to the tea court was insecure, and the owner made it clear that it was a short-term arrangement which he would terminate in the future. "In 2005, he made it clear that his tea court would no longer be available for use by the Heiveld cooperative," explains Barry Koopman, the Tea Maker and Treasurer of Heiveld. But Heiveld was prepared for this. The cooperative had planned for acquiring its own tea-court a long time in advance. They had savings from the Premium income and secured a piece of land from one of its members that was suitable for the tea court. The first construction phase was completed in January 2006, shortly before the start of the harvest season. “Having its own tea court has freed Heiveld from dependency, and has enabled the organisation to start creating the sort of infrastructure that it needs to maintain the high standards that we have established for our product. It has also contributed to the pride that members feel in the organisation” says Barry. Long-term planning is a fundamental part of Heiveld’s strategy. They have already decided how they will invest the Fairtrade Premium they earn up til year 2008. The objective is to strengthen their business and become more competitive.

“We are going to complete the second phase of construction of the tea court, including the installation of water storage tanks, building a store/office building, and purchase a second tea chopping machine. We have also developed a scheme to help members who experienced especially bad harvests during the 2003 – 2006 droughts as well as a training programme for members in sustainable production of Rooibos” explains Lionel enthusiastically. Taking into account Heiveld’s success and the cooperative’s future plans, it is not surprising that the number of applications for membership is growing very fast. With its high quality product, strong management and modernization the future in dry Cedarberg looks fertile for Heiveld.