Sustainable agriculture uses best practice to produce high quality products in a way that is environmentally sustainable and also has socio-economic benefits for communities. The development of guidelines to inform best practice therefore contributes to the national goal of using our natural resources sustainably in order to ensure that these resources can also benefit future generations.
The honeybush industry generates locally important income for processors, farmers and harvesters. Some 85% of the annual crop comes from wild harvested honeybush plants and the remainder from cultivated crops. With financial support from the Western Cape Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, best practice guidelines for the sustainable harvesting of wild honeybush have been developed by Gillian MacGregor through thorough field work and inputs from a wide range of stakeholders. These guidelines have now been incorporated into a handy ‘field guide’ in English or a ‘veldgids’ in Afrikaans, which can be downloaded below.
Honeybush harvesters at work.
(Photo: Gillian MacGregor)
Read the scientific resources on this project in our Honeybush resources section here.