Rooibos: Our Collective Heritage. So, Who Shares in its Value?

10 September 2026

Excerpt:

Discover how Rooibos became a global commodity while remaining deeply rooted in South African heritage. Explore the landmark 2019 Rooibos Benefit-Sharing Agreement and how it recognises San and Khoi traditional knowledge and shares value.

Rooibos Heritage

Rooibos is more than a crop. It is part of South Africa’s natural and cultural heritage, rooted in traditional knowledge, Indigenous communities and a landscape where it grows naturally, and nowhere else on Earth.

Today, Rooibos is enjoyed around the world. But as this uniquely South African resource has grown into a global commodity, another question has become increasingly important:

Who shares in the value that Rooibos creates?

In 2019, the Rooibos industry took an important step towards answering that question, entering into a groundbreaking Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) agreement with San and Khoi traditional knowledge holders. The agreement established a formal mechanism for sharing the commercial benefits associated with traditional knowledge of Rooibos.

It was a landmark moment – not only for Rooibos, but for the relationship between Indigenous knowledge, biodiversity and commercial enterprise.

 

Rooibos and Traditional Knowledge

The story of Rooibos began long before the modern tea industry.

San and Khoi communities have longstanding traditional knowledge relating to the use of Rooibos. Research commissioned by the South African government formally recognised San and Khoi communities as holders of traditional knowledge associated with the plant (Department of Environmental Affairs, 2019).

That recognition matters because Rooibos is not simply an agricultural commodity.

It is an indigenous biological resource, intrinsically connected to South Africa’s biodiversity and to generations of knowledge about its use.

South Africa’s National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (NEMBA) and its Bioprospecting, Access and Benefit-Sharing Regulations provide a framework for ensuring that benefits arising from the commercial use of biological resources and associated traditional knowledge are shared fairly. The international Nagoya Protocol, under the Convention on Biological Diversity, similarly establishes principles for fair and equitable benefit sharing arising from genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge.

For Rooibos, these principles became a practical reality in 2019.

 

A Landmark Agreement

In March 2019, representatives of San and Khoi communities and the South African Rooibos industry reached an industry-wide benefit-sharing agreement. It was formally launched later that year (Wynberg et al., 2020).

At its heart is a traditional knowledge levy of 1.5% of the farm-gate price of Rooibos purchased by processors.

This means that a portion of the commercial value generated from Rooibos is directed towards San and Khoi traditional knowledge holders whose knowledge is associated with the plant. The first payment under the agreement amounted to just over R12.2 million. By 2024, a total of R28 million had been distributed to the trust accounts of San and Khoi community councils in recognition of Indigenous knowledge associated with Rooibos (Ramaphosa, 2024).

The funds are paid into trust accounts established by the San and Khoi communities to ensure that the benefits are managed appropriately and directed towards community priorities. These benefits include job creation and the upliftment of approximately 160 small-scale farmers belonging to the Wupperthal Cooperative in the Western Cape and the Heiveld Cooperative in the Northern Cape.

It was a significant achievement.

Rather than benefit sharing being addressed on a company-by-company basis, the Rooibos industry came together around a collective mechanism.

That makes the agreement particularly notable: an entire agricultural industry recognised the connection between commercial value and Indigenous traditional knowledge.

 

Why the Rooibos Agreement Matters

The Rooibos agreement is an important case study in Access and Benefit Sharing.

It demonstrates how a commercially established industry can translate the principles of biodiversity legislation and the Nagoya Protocol into a practical benefit-sharing mechanism.

It also offers a different way of thinking about supply chains.

We often ask where a product comes from.

But provenance is about more than geography.

It can also encompass the knowledge, culture, people and biodiversity connected to a product’s origins.

For Rooibos, these elements are inseparable.

The plant is endemic to South Africa’s Cape Floristic Region. Its traditional uses form part of the cultural history of the communities who have interacted with it over generations. And its modern commercial success has created value far beyond the region where it grows.

The benefit-sharing agreement connects these parts of the story.

 

A Model Beyond Rooibos

The importance of the Rooibos agreement extends beyond the tea industry.

Around the world, Indigenous and local communities possess traditional knowledge associated with plants, food, medicine and biodiversity. Increasingly, governments, businesses and international organisations are considering how that knowledge should be recognised when commercial value is created.

The Rooibos agreement provides a real-world example of what this can look like.

It shows that commercialisation and recognition of Indigenous knowledge do not have to be competing ideas. Instead, commercial success can create an opportunity to recognise heritage and ensure that value flows back to the communities connected to that heritage.

That is a powerful message for global supply chains increasingly focused on responsible sourcing, traceability and sustainability.

 

From the Cederberg to the World

For international Rooibos buyers, this story adds another dimension to a product already defined by its South African origin.

Rooibos grows in a very specific geographical environment in the Cederberg and surrounding areas. As we explored in “The Cederberg in Bloom: Why Rooibos Grows Nowhere Else on Earth”, its relationship with this unique landscape is fundamental to what makes Rooibos Rooibos.

Its social story is equally important.

At Carmién, we believe responsible business is ultimately about creating meaningful value for people as well as products. Our article “When ESG Becomes Real: From a Bus to Better Lives in Rooibos Communities” explores one example of how investment in Rooibos-growing communities can translate into tangible benefits.

These stories are part of a bigger picture.

When Rooibos travels from the Cederberg to consumers around the world, it carries more than flavour.

It carries place, heritage, knowledge and history.

 

Honouring the Heritage Behind the Cup

The Rooibos Benefit-Sharing Agreement shows that the story behind a product matters – and that heritage can have economic value that is shared.

For international buyers, it adds depth to a product already defined by its South African origin.

Rooibos is connected to a unique landscape, Indigenous knowledge, generations of use and the communities who form part of its story.

As we celebrate South African Heritage Month, Rooibos gives us a particularly meaningful reason to reflect on what heritage means. Heritage is not only something we preserve or remember. It can be living, evolving and shared with the world.

Every cup of Rooibos carries a part of that story.

This Heritage Month, we celebrate Rooibos not only as a product South Africa has shared with the world, but as a living heritage whose roots remain firmly connected to its people, knowledge and place.

 

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