The Commercialisation of Devil’s Claw in Botswana Flowering devil’s claw
Name and type of genetic resources The devil’s claw, Harpagophytum procumbens also known as grapple plant is a weedy perennial with a central taproot and secondary tubers (storage roots) branching off horizontally. The roots are found up to 2 m deep and the secondary storage roots are up to 25 cm long and 6 cm thick. The devil’s claw is native to the Kalahari Desert of Botswana, South Africa and Namibia. In Botswana the devil’s claw is protected by the Agricultural Resource Act(1974) and accompanying regulations of 1977.
Actors involved 1. The Agricultural Resource Board (ARB): Government department issuing permits to control extraction and trade in Harpagophytum. There are three types of permits, an extraction permit, a transfer permit and an export permit. The extraction permit states conditions that the extractor has to follow to ensure that harvesting is sustainable.
Actors continue 2. Traditional communities: Mostly the San people obtain the extraction permit, and each permit is issued to one individual person in the community for three months, for a specific locality, and stipulates a specific quota. They also obtain a transfer permit to enable them to transfer ownership of the harvested dried devil’s claw to their buyers.
Actors continue 3. NGOs, e. g. Thusano Lefatsheng and Veld Products Research, buy the devil’s claw from the communities and then sell to both local and international markets (South Africa, Germany, France, and South Korea) using the export permit from ARB. 4. Pharmaceutical companies in Europe and Asia: (being the last actor in the value chain make the most of it).
How the genetic resource is used: The devil’s claw is used traditionally by the San bushman as a digestive tonic, for headaches, fevers and allergies, and an ointment to alleviate pain during childbirth. Its medicinal properties were learned from the San by G. H. Mehnert, a German citizen in 1907. After the initial testing of its properties in the 1950 s, more recent clinical trials have established that devil’s claw has antiinflammatory and anti-arthritic properties for patients with degenerative joint diseases. Traditional communities still prefer to eat raw tubers as they believe in their medicinal strength when taken orally.
Today the exported devil’s claw roots are used by numerous pharmaceutical companies in Europe and East Asia to produce pills, capsules, teas, and creams for treatment of diseases like rheumatism and arthritis.
Type of ABS agreement (e. g. MTA, private contract, Mo. U, agreement under ABS legislation None
Agreed benefits (monetary and non-monetary benefits) None
Benefits realized to date Thusano Lefatsheng started selling the devil’s claw since 1986, and money has been the only source of benefit between the local communities and NGOs engaged in the commercialisation of the devil’s claw.
Direct contribution to poverty alleviation: Increasing rural off-farm incomes and hence providing some cash to those local communities for uplifting their living standards.
Lessons learned to date: Some villagers voluntarily practice rotational harvesting by harvesting in different directions away from the village each year to give the resources time needed to recover. l NGOs engaged in exporting the devil’s claw have experienced some challenges in marketing the product leading to stockpiling from the previous harvest. l
What changes at local, national/ international level Local: If there could be a dedicated resource user group to increase the use of the resources over modern medicine and herbs from other countries (India, China). l National: Involvement of private sectors e. g. local herb stores and pharmacies in promoting the use of devil’s claw Access to finance by Thusano Lefatsheng and Veld Products to market the product to other countries like India, China, USA e. t. c. l Regional: Joint strategic marketing initiatives. l
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