82 The informal trade of Cassipourea flanaganii as a cosmetic in South Africatrader earns US$271 annually from C. flanaganii sales (converted at a rate
of R6.41 to US$1 as reported on 10 March 2000), ranging from US$124 to
US$748, annually. It is estimated that each female gatherer/trader earns
an annual average of US$2,004 (ranging from US$1,121 to US$3,790) in
total sales of plant material traded. The sale of C. flanaganii contributes
approximately 14% of their total income. The gatherers/traders have no
other means of income other than the sale of medicinal plants.INSTITUTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF PRODUCERS
Although the trade in medicinal plants is well established countrywide, it
operates entirely informally at the production/harvest end of the marketing
chain (Cunningham 1988). There is no formal organisation amongst gatherers
in the study site and they operate as independent agents when it comes to the
harvesting of material. The main barriers to additional households becoming
gatherers are the skills needed to identify plant species and the negative
social stigma attached to the activity. In the study site no customary rules
apply to the management of the forest, as it is state owned and access was
previously strictly controlled. It is clear that gatherers harbour feelings of
resentment and animosity towards government authorities and regard access
to these resources as their right because they live adjacent to the forest.
Although they readily acknowledge that greater distances need to be covered
to obtain material, the gatherers perceive all forest resources, including C.
flanaganii, to be inexhaustible.CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PRODUCT
Hardly any transformation takes place from raw material to end product within
the study area. The bark is removed from trees, brought home, scraped to
remove debris such as lichen and left to dry for two days. It is then cut into
pieces approximately 120 mm long. The pieces are transported to the
neighbouring and larger urban markets across the country. However, with the
increased commercialisation of the product, a factory-processed and packaged
product has recently become available in the central business districts of
some provinces. The authors have not yet recorded these products in the
Eastern Cape.CHARACTERISTICS OF TRADE AND MARKETING
The female gatherers/traders from Pirie Mission and Cwengcwe sell their
material in King William’s Town. The material is harvested on weekends or in
the early morning hours during the week. The work is strenuous, and women
take their older children to assist with the harvesting, but no additional labour
is employed. The majority of gatherers/traders is between 45 and 65 years
old. They represent the poorest sector of their communities and have little or
no formal education.
The medicinal plant market in King William’s Town has been in existence
for 12 years, during which time its size has both fluctuated and increased.05cassipourea.p65 82 22/12/2004, 11:04