Rachel Wynberg – The Conversation

Small scale farmers aren’t getting much from the rooibos tea access and benefit sharing agreements. Paul Weinberg

September 7, 2025

South Africa’s small‑scale rooibos tea growers aren’t getting much from an industry deal – why it’s not fair

Rachel Wynberg, University of Cape Town; June Bam-Hutchison, University of Johannesburg, and Sarah Ives, City College of San Francisco

Rooibos herbal tea was first farmed by Indigenous South Africans who were forced off their land during apartheid.

Andreswd/Getty Images

January 23, 2025

Industrial scale farming is flawed: what ecologically‑friendly farming practices could look like in Africa

Rachel Wynberg, University of Cape Town

Clearing huge tracts of land to plant one crop like maize has degraded land and put healthy food out of the reach of ordinary people. A new book has solutions.

Shutterstock

March 3, 2024

Big companies, like Nestlé, are funding health research in South Africa ‑ why this is wrong

Susan Goldstein, University of the Witwatersrand; Mark Tomlinson, Stellenbosch University; Rachel Wynberg, University of Cape Town, and Tanya Doherty, South African Medical Research Council

Financial links between corporations and health research invariably lead to conflicts of interest.

Woman selling baobab fibre mats in Zimbabwe. Rachel Wynberg

June 10, 2020

Why the world needs to ensure wild species are used sustainably

Mallika Sardeshpande, University of KwaZulu-Natal; Charlie Shackleton, Rhodes University; James George Sekonya, University of Cape Town, and Rachel Wynberg, University of Cape Town

As the world deals with COVID-19, the sustainable use of wild species is a critical coping and resilience strategy.

April 24, 2019

Pasha 16: Small‑scale farming and agroecology

Ozayr Patel, The Conversation

CC BY-NC-ND6.4 MB (download)

Developing countries present an opportunity for agroecological innovations to help small-scale farmers.

A diversity of seeds on sale in Nanyuki market, Kenya. K Dekeyser

August 30, 2018

Why developing countries should boost the ways of small‑scale farming

Rachel Wynberg, University of Cape Town and Laura Pereira, Stellenbosch University

Developing countries could leapfrog industrial agriculture systems by moving to agroecology.

A worker piles up leaves of rooibos tea for drying. Local people have been marginalised in the industry. Mike Hutchings/Reuters

November 22, 2016

How justice can be brought to South Africa’s rooibos industry

Rachel Wynberg, University of Cape Town

The rooibos industry has been accompanied by dispossession and adversity stretching back over centuries.

Ntombithini Ndwandwe, an agroecology farmer displaying her diversity of traditional seeds in Zimele, KwaZulu-Natal. Rachel Wynberg

October 17, 2016

Seeds under siege: it’s time to support traditional systems

Rachel Wynberg, University of Cape Town

Since 2000, the growth of the commercial seed market has almost tripled. More than 63% of the world’s commercial seed is now owned by six corporations.

Harvesting rooibos in South Africa’s Suid Bokkeveld. Paul Weinberg

April 5, 2016

Justice is still not being done in the exploitation of indigenous products

Rachel Wynberg, University of Cape Town

Good models have been developed to ensure benefit sharing in the biodiversity business. But major challenges prevent developing countries from translating this into social justice.

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