62 Achieving a fair and sustainable trade in devil’s claw (Harpagophytum spp.)some of the most marginalized communities in southern Africa, characterised
by extremely low levels of education, acute poverty and limited access to income-
earning opportunities. This, combined with the arduous nature of the work and
its low income-earning potential, has led many to comment that the harvesting
of devil’s claw is a ‘low status’ activity reserved for the poorest of the poor
(see, for example, Ntseane 1993). In Namibia, CRIAA SA-DC (2000b) reports an
average annual income of N$264 (US$26) per harvester, although this applies
specifically to resettlement farms involved in the SHDC Project. Elsewhere in
the country incomes of harvesters are highly erratic, varying from N$100 to
N$500 (US$10–50), depending on the volumes harvested. While these earnings
may seem low, and certainly fall well below the poverty line, they nonetheless
represent an extremely important source of income in communities in which
only a minority of people have formal jobs.
A diverse range of ethnic groups are engaged in harvesting and trading devil’s
claw, including the San, Herero, Damara, Ovambo and Bakgalagadi. Virtually no
anthropological accounts exist of the trade, although it is fair to say that the
most marginalized groups, and most notably the San, are those most active in
harvesting the plant (Ntseane 1993). A long history of dispossession and relocation
has accompanied the San, described comprehensively in Suzman (2001) and
illustrated well by the situation of the Omaheke San in Namibia, who represent
the majority of participants in the SHDC Project. Cole and du Plessis (2001)
chart the complex history of this group who, prior to conquest by the Herero
and later colonisation by Germany and South Africa, were organised into relatively
stable social units attached to particular areas known as n!ores. After
colonisation, groups of San were retained on commercial farms as a source of
cheap labour, but over time became redundant as farm labour was reduced,
and were forced to squat in road reserves or informal settlements. Following
independence the Omaheke San were ‘resettled’ on government-owned farms
in the region, together with displaced farm workers of other ethnic origins. This
story of resettlement and persecution is one that has played itself out in many
other parts of the region as well. It is also a narrative that forms only part of a
much wider political texture for the case of devil’s claw.TRADE AND MARKETSUse and pharmacological effects
The root of devil’s claw is used widely as a medicine, both traditionally and in
Western preparations. Traditional use of the tuber for fever relief, blood
diseases, muscular aches and pains, digestive disorders, syphilis and as an
analgesic during pregnancy is widely recorded, as is the use of pulverised root
material as an ointment for sores, ulcers and boils and for difficult births
(Watt and Breyer-Brandwijk 1962; Giess and Snyman 1995). Indeed, traditional
knowledge was the basis for initiating Western interest in the plant at the
turn of the twentieth century, thus marking one of the first and certainly one
of the most significant ‘biopiracy’ incidents in Namibia.
Today the plant has a reputation for efficacy in the treatment of arthritis
and rheumatism in Western medicine. Extracts of the tubers are used widely
as ingredients in pharmaceutical preparations, herbal remedies and cosmetics04devilcslaw.P65 62 22/12/2004, 11:04