Forest Products, Livelihoods and Conservation

64 Achieving a fair and sustainable trade in devil’s claw (Harpagophytum spp.)

Figure 3. ‘Free Enterprise’ model of Namibia and South Africa

Exporters within this model are represented by about four to five established

companies within Namibia, one large French exporter which works independently

of either Namibian or South African firms, and an increasing number of smaller

enterprises. Raw material may be (a) packaged and sold within Namibia for

limited local trade, (b) exported directly from Namibia to Europe or the U.S.,

(c) exported to Europe or the U.S. via South African firms, or (d) exported to

South Africa for local trade. Typically, it will then be passed onto an extractor

who, depending on circumstances, will likely pass on the extracts to a company

for manufacturing, packaging and marketing of the drug.

The second model of trade, the ‘Honest Broker’ model, illustrates the

situation in a minority of communities in Namibia, where support from CRIAA

SA-DC has enabled communities to link directly with a local exporting firm

(Figure 4). This is also the model described by the accompanying data to this

study. The exporter collects material directly from involved communities and

pays a premium price on the basis of the material being certified organic and

of a high quality. In total, some 10 tons are traded. Although this model has

limited outreach, the 328 participating harvesters receive a greater proportion

of the retail price (0.85%) than harvesters of the other two models. After

export, the product follows the same route as that described above.

The third model of trade, which I have dubbed the ‘State–NGO’ model,

typifies the situation in Botswana, where a single NGO has dominated trade in

Harpagophytum over the past 10 years. Here, a strategy of targeted

intervention has lead to Harpagophytum being purchased directly from

marginalized rural communities in the country by a rural development NGO,

Thusano Lefatsheng, which also markets the product (Figure 5). A significant

variation from the Namibian models is that only a small proportion of material

from Botswana is exported directly to target markets; most material leaving

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