Lemon grass ladies of Bulungula



The lemon grass ladies of Bulungula, with Mam Nolesile Dodwana holding a basket of harvested lemon grass.

I know that there are some staff who are aware of this particular story as we carried it a few months ago in Amicus, Old Mutual’s internal magazine and That's a Wrap, the electronic newsletter. So if you have read it before, please bear with us for the sake of those people who haven’t. Besides now you’ll get to read it again, but this time with the benefit of Mark’s photography.

In most traditional communities throughout South Africa, subsistence farming is carried out by the women of the household, who hoe the fields, draw water and tend to crops such as maize, spinach and pumpkin. So the introduction of lemon grass as a commercial crop into this rural community was quite a novel concept, not to mention a step of faith for these ladies who would be required to put in extra physical labour, over and above their already demanding daily tasks, into the development of this Bulungula Incubator (BI) farming co-operative. 

Initiated in late 2009 with 14 farmers, the Old Mutual Foundation invested R1 million rand into this BI initiative, whose first crops were harvested in April 2010. It was an exciting moment which we all celebrated. But a project of this nature seldom runs smoothly and the co-op, although experienced farmers, had to overcome challenges in learning to work with a new crop such as dealing with rust on their plants, effective methods of drying the lemon grass to prevent the development of mould, sourcing a viable market and the transport costs associated with getting their goods to a buyer from their rural location. It hasn’t been easy!

But the co-op is strongly unified under the leadership of Mam Nolesile Dodwana (49), a handsome woman with a strong, calm presence. She is married with nine children and seven grandchildren whom she dotes on. Standing her fields, dressed in an orange doek and a faded blue pinafore dress, Nolesile tells this story of their co-operative’s journey. (With thanks to my colleague Ayanda Sema who has provided this translation.)

“When we started this project in November 2009, we were very excited to have an opportunity to generate an income but the work was very hard! There had been little rain at that time, the ground was very dry and it was hard to get the lemon grass going. We managed to carry water from the river and from water tanks in the village until the summer rains arrived in December. This was hard work. Once the rains came, the lemon grass started growing very quickly and we were surprised and pleased to see this fast growing crop start to shoot up in our fields.

Mark hard at work photographing the lemon grass ladies. The one lady was a little perplexed that he was taking so many photographs. "Didn't he get it the first time?" she asked.

“The weather dried out again and it took another three months before we had enough to harvest. Our first harvest was in April 2010. We had training on how to harvest and also started experimenting with different drying methods. We first tried to lay the lemon grass out on grassmats but this drying method was not very successful, as much of the harvest developed mould. However, what we were able to salvage was taken to Cape Town and sold to rooibos tea exporters who flavour their tea with the lemon grass leaves.

“The loss due to mould was a setback that demoralised the farmers and we realised that we needed to do some further research. We then made contact with another successful lemon grass farming operation in Kwa-Zulu Natal. This visit was useful and helped to revive the farmer’s spirits and build us as a team. During this visit we learned many useful methods for planting and harvesting.

Mam Nolesile Dodwana, Chairperson of the Bulungula Essential Oils Farming co-operative, stands in fields of lemon grass with her fellow farmers.

"We also met people who were employed as workers on this farm and it was then we realised that with the support of Old Mutual, we are owners of our lemon grass farms, not just employees so we have to work hard because as the profits grow, we will benefit more.

“We starting implementing the farming lessons learned and managed to harvest successfully in August and October. These crops were sold in Cape Town, once again to the rooibos tea growers who praised the quality of our dried stock, but rejected a third of the crop due to mould. Although we didn’t lose as much as the first harvest, we needed to find a failsafe drying method so we are now experimenting with solar-drying boxes and hope that we’ll be able to dry the latest crop properly. This current harvest is expected to be our biggest ever!”

      
At the time of our visit to Bulungula, the ladies latest harvest was just under one tonne. With each crop they produce more and lose less. Now the co-operative has expanded to 20 farmers who are working with approximately 1200 – 1300 plants each. One farmer has already reached the 2000 plant goal.

The co-operative’s lemon grass has been organically certified which means that there is huge potential market as there is simply no organically grown lemon grass to be found in South Africa.  As Nolesile says, “Our lemon grass has been tested by our buyers and they have found it to be of excellent quality. The rooibos tea exporters will buy anything we can grow, so we have a ready market for up to 20 tonnes a year. We just have to work hard on improving our crops and reducing our losses.”



A board room with a difference: the Board of Trustees of the Bulungula Essential Oils co-operative. "Not boring at all," says Mark. From left to right, Mam Novotile Nodange (48), Mam Nobongile Makausi (47), Mam Nolesile Dodwana (49), Chairperson, Mam Nokhongilasi Olo (born 1948)

Good news:

We’ve put the Bulungula Incubator farming co-operative (Bulungula, Eastern Cape) in touch with the Heiveld farming co-operative (Nieuwoudtville, Northern Cape). When we were visiting with Hermanus Fortuin and Barry Koopman we discovered that their co-op is currently importing organic lemon grass from Sri Lanka as a mix for one of their range of rooibos teas. So they were delighted to hear of an organically certified source of South African lemon grass. We’ll be sure to bring you the follow-up on this potential synergy.



Members of the Bulungula Essential Oils co-operative

It’s been a long day with the ladies and they’ve been patient with Tim and Mark filming and photographing them. Earlier during the day, we had asked them to work with the racks of drying lemon grass, which required some ladies to stand on chairs and work with the bunches hanging from lines strung across the room. Whilst the ladies were working and chattering away in isiXhosa, Tim was working the camera angles close and low to get interesting footage. Someone made a throw-away comment and suddenly the whole group was hooting with laughter, cackling with earthy humour. Tim blushed, realising that he’d made some cultural faux pas but was not quite sure what it was. It turns out that whilst coming in for a low angle, one lady had worriedly commented something to the effect of, “Yo, is he going to film up our skirts?” This of course had set them off cackling like hadedas in flight.


Hanging bunches of dried lemon grass.

Mam Nogqithile Tshayisa helps Mark get his shots by hanging bunches of dried lemon grass.



Happy and singing, the lemon grass ladies arrive for the day's interview after collecting their monthly grants and having completed their grocery shopping

Eventually we pack up our gear. Some ladies balance a baby on their backs, others tuck a red-combed chicken under their arm, set their groceries on their heads and move off, swaying in the easy way of African women, all the while talking good-naturedly to a friend across the valley.

Remains of the Day images:



Phumzile Msaro (29), Bulungula Essential Oils Project Manager - Visionary



Stars trace patterns in the sky; lemon grass grows by moonlight

Tim and I interviewing Nkuli Ndlovu, Sustainable Livelihoods Manager of the Bulungula Incubator, with impromptu' photographer's assistant' Phumzile Msaro, Project Manager for the Bulungula Essential Oils co-operative.