Devil’s claw brings in the moolah

25 February 2010, New Era
URL: http://www.newera.com.na/article.php?articleid=9696&sid=9cd54b1b65e64ed3506107f6cb4d9cea

Mahango Station:  Devil’s claw harvesters, mostly women and the elderly, in the Bwabwata National Park receive between N$800 and N$1 000 each.

According to the Minister of Environment and Tourism Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, her ministry is working hand in hand with local communities to ensure that biodiversity in protected areas benefits the rural poor living in or alongside national parks.  The minister said this demonstrates how national parks help to reduce poverty in some of the most marginalised areas, while stringent measures are taken to protect Namibia’s precious biodiversity.

Currently, 530 harvesters have been registered and trained and will be monitored during the harvesting process.

This is also the first year that organic certification has been awarded for the devil’s claw in a national park, a factor which the minister said is hoped would achieve a higher market price for the product.

“To ensure the suitable use of our natural resources and to increase the income communities generate from it, we need to invest in value addition to devil’s claw so that it cannot only be sent out as a raw product,” Nandi-Ndaitwah said.

The minister said Namibia calls for an international binding regime to ensure that Africa benefits from its biodiversity whether processed in Africa or elsewhere in the world.  Namibia will host the African Ministers’ Conference on Access and Benefit-Sharing in relation to Africa’s biodiversity from March 8 to 10, 2010.

It is reported that over the last decade, there has been a dramatic increase in the international demand for devil’s claw (Harpagophytum procumbens and Harpagophytum zeyheri), a traditional medicinal plant found in southern African countries such as Namibia, Botswana and South Africa.  The medicinal ingredients, which are used to treat rheumatism and other degenerative ailments, are found in the tubers, large quantities of which are harvested each year and exported, mainly to Germany, where they are processed into drugs.

Namibia is by far the biggest exporter of devil’s claw, which has provided opportunities for those involved in harvesting the plant, although concern for overexploitation has been expressed.

Studies are however expected to help the Namibian government to put into place mechanisms to ensure that the trade in devil’s claw is sustainable and justly compensated.