Developing a sector by creating community-owned enterprises based on the cultivation and processing of essential oils and medicinal plants in South Africa

Abstract

The production of essential oils and medicinal plant products by communities with access to arable land represents a promising new sector in the agroprocessing industry. The Enterprise Creation for Development (ECD) unit of the CSIR transfers technology developed by research institutes, universities and the private sector to communities with the aim of creating new community-based enterprises. The CSIR identifies and evaluates new business opportunities, determines technical and economic feasibility, creates and incubates new business entities and exits once financial sustainability has been proven. The approach is to collaborate closely with government, industry and community stakeholders to identify and address key technical, marketing and regulatory obstacles that have inhibited the growth of the essential oil and medicinal plant sector to date. A portfolio of projects funded mainly by the Sustainable Livelihoods Programme of the Department of Science and Technology and aimed at establishing new enterprises in rural communities based on cultivation and processing of medicinal and essential oil plants, is implemented. This portfolio of projects includes both firm and sector-level interventions. Sectorlevel interventions, which include sourcing and packaging of technologies, market studies and management of knowledge related to the sector, are designed to support the enterprise creation activities. Current projects being implemented include cultivation and distillation of indigenous essential oil crops such as Agathosma betulina (buchu) at Genadenberg in Western Cape, Lippia javanica at Giyani in Limpopo and rose geranium in Northern Cape, Eastern Cape, Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga. Projects based on indigenous medicinal plants include Siphonichilus aethiopicus (African ginger) in KwaZulu-Natal, Hoodia gordonii in Northern Cape and Pelargonium sidoides in Eastern Cape