Devil's Claw
Bringing income opportunities to the rural poor of the Kalahari
Background
The Hwange district of Matebeleland North in Zimbabwe has traditionally been home to some of the country's poorest villagers. In this region you will come across very few people who own livestock. As a result, and with few other opportunities to make money, they are forced to rely on subsistence farming with crops such as maize and sorghum. For most, the only source of cash income is from surplus grain, the equivalent of less than £15 a month. Africa Now's work in the region has revealed that women and children often dominate the collection of wild plants, and the number of child-headed households continues to grow due to the devastating effects of HIV/AIDS.
Devil's Claw is a tuberous shrub found across the Kalahari Desert. The name Devil's Claw refers to the hooked, claw-like seedpods. The plant is an analgesic and anti-inflammatory and has a large export market in Europe and increasingly in the Far East and North America. At present the Devil's Claw trade in Zimbabwe is unsustainable and does not benefit the harvesters or buyers. The harvesters are given low prices, which forces them to harvest the whole plant, rather than just the offshoots, causing the plant to die and reducing the quality of the product. Research has already found that the sale of Devil's Claw from the dry West of Zimbabwe is commercially viable.
Aims and objectives
Given the opportunities that Devil's claw offers to help lift people in the Hwange district out of poverty, Africa Now's project seeks to enable harvesters to sustainably harvest high-quality devil's claw in sufficient, easily accessible quantities and to negotiate effectively with buyers in their collective and individual interests.
By linking harvesters with a commercial buyer, individuals in the region are being provided a guaranteed price for their produce. A similar project in Namibia has already shown that harvesters can quadruple their per unit selling price in one year. Sustainable harvesting methods coupled with fairer, market-led trading practices can therefore significantly and sustainably improve the lives of marginalised harvesting families, while ensuring that the buyer obtains a consistently high quality product that can be sold at a premium.
Activities
Africa Now is currently supporting people of the Hwange district by carrying out the following activities:
- Training on sustainable harvesting techniques, post-harvest processing, storage and quality control to ensure a continuous supply of high quality products.
- Establishing centralised storage and sales points to increase cost-effectiveness and improve producers' access to buyers.
- Organisational management and business training to help farmers operate with a united voice and to negotiate fair prices and contracts for their product.
- Empowering women farmers to become active participants by ensuring that they are fairly represented among registered harvesters and that their voices are heard at all levels of the project.
- Researching other potential commodities to help the target communities secure a diverse income source for harvesters.
Case Study: Ancient remedies to modern day problems: bringing income opportunities to the people of the Kalahari
Selinah Ndubiwa lives in Monde village, which lies amongst the dry sands and clay soil of the Kalahari Desert. The income that Selinah and her neighbours earn from harvesting Devil's Claw makes the hard work worthwhile. The day starts early for this women's group. They take turns digging 1.5 metre deep holes around the Devil's Claw plant to avoid damaging it. They continue throughout the day, stopping mid-afternoon to slice the freshly dug tubers and lay them out to dry. The group sold 10 bags of dried Devil's Claw in the first harvest alone, earning themselves £60 each.
"Devil's claw has given us a happy way to boost our income"
--Selinah Ndubiwa
