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Tea of life

Monday 3 September 2012thestar.com.my/lifestyle

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Australia’s tea tree brings cheer tofarmers in Kenya, who plant themto supply the cosmetic industry. >2

Photo: CHIN MUI YOON/The Star

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Story and photosby CHIN MUI YOONstar2@thestar.com.my

Impoverished farmer Juliusmunyiri had struggled for yearsto provide for his six children

on his 1.2ha plot of land locatedat the foothills of mount Kenya ineast Africa. droughts, maraudingwildlife and market fluctuations areconstant threats to the survival ofsmallholders.

munyiri grows vegetables for theeuropean export market but bro-kers constantly dictate low prices.

“my hands are tied every time,as once the produce is ripe, i haveto sell them at any price. That’s justthe way it has always been,” saysmunyiri.

once, opportunistic brokers camealong and commissioned him togrow castor plants and later ama-ranth. Both times, the buyers failedto honour their orders. munyirinearly went bankrupt.

Then came the reversal of for-tunes, although he was understand-ably hesitant when earthoil Kenya

approached him in 2007 to supple-ment his food crops with organictea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia), anew crop.

“earthoil has a distillation factorynearby, and they visited me severaltimes so i felt more assured,” saysmunyiri.

earthoil is a global commercialprocessing and export companysupplying the global market withoil extracts from macadamia, mor-inga, papaya seeds and passion fruitby thousands of small-scale farmers

in east Africa. it introduced tea treeto the farmers living around thesmall town of Naro moro throughthe Kenya organic oil FarmersAssociation (Koofa) in 2007.

A key customer is The Body shop,which has worked closely withKoofa and earthoil in enlisting thefarmers as its community tradesuppliers.

organic tea tree oil from Koofais just the latest raw ingredientsourced under The Body shop’sCommunity Fair Trade (CFT) pro-

gramme. This year marks the 25thanniversary of Body shop founderdame Anita roddick’s first tradewith Teddy exports of india (seestory on page 4).

Tea tree requires less investmentand labour, yet provides steady cashin an area where farmers earn aper capita income of less than Us$1(rm3) a day. munyiri’s first harvestwas just 660kg, as the trees weresingle stems, earning him Kenyanshillings (Ksh) 9,000 (rm335). Afterharvesting, he left 15cm to 20cmstumps in the ground to sproutmore branches.

drought destroyed much ofmunyiri’s second harvest, and hecollected just Ksh5,000 (rm186).his third harvest, however, reward-ed him with Ksh18,000 (rm670).

munyiri was eagerly awaiting hisnext harvest during our visit to

his farm last month organ-ised by The Body shop.

The money, munyirisaid, would buy fivecows that can producebiogas to generateelectricity for his farm.

earnings from his previous harvestssaw to his children’s school fees,clothes and books, and contributedto his second son’s medical studiesin russia, where he is on a scholar-ship.

munyiri added joyfully that he’dalso splurged on a new shirt forhimself at the local market.

he is very positive about the teatree. “The market is assured,” hesays, beaming.

A new demandAs our plane flew north from

Nairobi, the landscape morphedfrom urban chaos to a patchwork offields and farms at the foothills of

Symbol of hope:Koofa chairmanGibson Wahome andThe Body Shop’sCommunity FairTrade director MarkDavis are pleased tosee the new cashcrop, Melaleucaalternifolia (above),take off successfullyin Kenya.

Planting hopeThe production of tea tree oil is changing the lives offarmers in central Kenya.

� LIVING Star2, MonDay 3 SepTeMBer 2012

munyiri was eagerly awaiting hisnext harvest during our visit to

his farm last month organ-ised by The Body shop.

earnings from his previous harvests

Gibson Wahome and

Trade director Mark

The end result ofkindness is that itdraws people to you.– Anita Roddick, TheBody Shop founder

Star2, Monday 3 SepteMber 2012 LIVING �

majestic Mount Kenya. The fertilevolcanic soils and abundant rainfallmake the Central Highlands thecountry’s most populated and culti-vated region.

It’s home to agricultural com-munities such as the Kikuyu, Meru,Embu and Akamba – subsistencefarmers who grow vegetables,fruits, flowers and grains in sham-bas, or smallholdings. In 2007,Earthoil selected the Mount Kenyaregion as its production site asother Melaleuca species alreadygrew wild in the area.

The plant flourishes in subtropi-cal climates in moist soil, but it alsoholds up during droughts, fires andflooding.

Tea trees also provide fuel woodthat help mitigate deforestation.The trees have a lifespan of 25years and can be harvested within12 months of planting, with newcrops every eight to 10 months.

Mark Davis, The Body Shop’sCFT director, is especially delightedwith the project.

“Since 1994, we have been buy-ing tea tree from Australia’s indig-enous communities,” he explains.

“With increasing governmentsupport, the community decidedthey wanted to get involved inother activities instead of provid-ing essential oils for the beautyindustry.

“We looked at it as a fresh oppor-tunity to continue working withmarginalised farmers and com-munities under our CFT principles.We’d been working with Earthoilin Australia, and its African opera-tions director Wayne Barratt told usthey were exploring possibilities inKenya.”

Koofa was established afternumerous discussions with localfarmers. Today there are 484 mem-bers under a 15-member board.Any farmer can join as long as he orshe is willing to grow organic teatree and pay the KSh500 (RM17)lifetime membership fee.

“For years, we’d relied on grow-ing vegetables for the Europeanexport market,” explains Koofachairman Gibson Wahome.

“We’ve also attempted to plantborage (an oilseed herb) but lostmuch of it to bugs. Vegetablesrequired many chemicals and aresubject to market demands, so we

have irregular income.“However, we are very positive

about tea tree. It’s a good crop espe-cially as we grow it 100% organic.It’s not easily perishable and thereis an assured market.

“Koofa serves as a unified frontso we can offer a larger amountof pure organic tea tree and com-mand a better price. We workedclosely with NGOs, The Body Shopand Earthoil to map out fair prices,”Wahome explained.

Farmers are paid using Mbesa,a form of mobile payment provid-ing instant cash even to the mostremotely sited farmer, using justtheir mobile phones and withoutcharging a commission or interest.

An integral part of The BodyShop’s CFT programme is its prom-ise to benefit local communitiesdirectly. Thus, the company contrib-utes to an additional common fundstarted by the farmers to improvethe local community with a per-centage of their earnings channelledinto it.

The initial amount collected ofKSh750,000 (RM28,000) is fundingfive deserving and academically

inclined orphans to continue theireducation.

Harvests of hopeKoofa’s tea trees are planted and

harvested entirely by hand. Thecrops are rain-fed and some areirrigated by glacial waters under aproject that channels melting snowfrom Mount Kenya.

“Koofa’s tea tree oils are of veryhigh quality, as they are 100%organic so they are more beneficialto the skin,” explains Davis.

The 2011 harvest of crops result-ed in 3.1 tonnes of pure tea tree oil(a mere 1kg is extracted from 100kgof leaves). A single tree can yieldabout 3kg of leaves. The farmers areon their way to reaching a targetedtwo million trees, as many areexpanding their existing plots.

This year, The Body Shop orderedsix tonnes of oil, double last year’samount, and the farmers couldbarely keep up. Koofa hopes toincrease membership to 750, andone of the ways is through feedbackfrom successful farmers.

One of Koofa’s youngest, andamong its few female farmers,

Grace Kinyua, 32, decided to growtea tree out of sheer desperation toprovide for her four children aged16, 14, seven and two. She and herhusband James, a retired soldierand itinerant labourer, could hardlyafford the daily meals of potatoesand oatmeal.

In 2008, Kinyua visited Koofamembers’ farms and attendedEarthoil’s organic farming work-shops. Convinced that tea tree wasa viable crop, she took a loan andpurchased 10,000 seedlings.

“My in-laws left us 10 acres (4ha)of land, and I converted three acres(1ha) to grow tea tree. I drew waterfrom a stream 3km away and trans-ported it on the backs of donkeys,”she says.

However, drought destroyedalmost half a hectare, and Kinyuabarely managed to salvage theremaining crop.

“But I couldn’t give up. We’d havenothing at all if my crops didn’tgrow,” she says. “I want my chil-dren to finish their schooling and goto university so they can get jobs.I have struggled all my life. I don’twant my children to be like me.”

Kinyua’s initial harvest fetchedher KSh21,000 (RM782). It wenttowards repaying loans, and topay for food and uniforms for thechildren, and a much-needed watertank. Money from her next harvestwill go towards rehabilitating theland decimated by the drought.

Another female farmer, JecintaWatetu, 52, proudly greeted us inher white embroidered dress withmatching earrings and shiny blackleather shoes.

These were the first new piecesof clothing she’d ever bought her-self with earnings from tea tree. Sheshyly added that she’d also indulgedin some skin lotion for her work-worn hands.

The sixth child of 10, Watetu didnot get an education. Her whole lifehas been spent in the fields, andshe sold cow’s milk for KSh1,000 toKSh2,000 (RM37 to RM74) monthly.Most of the money went towardsmedication for her ailing mother,who died in April.

“I heard about the new crop and Idecided to try it out,” Watetu says.

“It took me three years to reha-bilitate the land for organic plantingby growing maize and legumesthat would help regenerate the soilwith nitrogen. I lost many crops todrought, but tea tree is hardier.”

Watetu’s first harvest of 2,500kgfetched KSh25,000 (RM933) and hersecond harvest is expected to betwice as much. Many women havesought her help in starting theirown tea tree farms. Watetu hassince formed a women’s cooperativewith 30 members. They earn addi-tional income by renting out tentsand chairs for village celebrations.

From Watetu’s little mud hut,she can look across to her belovedmother’s grave, which she coverswith fresh roses daily.

“My life has always revolvedaround work,” Watetu says.

“I am not waiting to get married.I’m determined to be independentand not rely on a husband. I canhire extra hands when it’s har-vesting time. My goal is to build aproper timber house for myself toreplace my mud hut.”

Her eyes wandered off for amoment.

“I just wish my mother couldhave seen this. It would have madeher happy knowing I have a betterfuture ahead.”

Fair trade — P4

Hard work pays off: (Far left)one of Koofa’s youngest andamong its few female farmers isGrace Kinyua. Her perseverance ingrowing organic tea tree hasrewarded her with a good harvestthat goes towards keeping fourchildren in school.

Left: Mary Mumbi and HannahMaeharia work on Grace Kinyua’sfarm.

below: For the first time in her life,tea tree farmer Jecinta Watetu wasable to treat herself to a newdress, shoes and earrings from herearnings. She hopes to build atimber house soon.

iSnap mefor a videohttp://thestar.com.my/isnap

Early in the morn-ing, Charity Wanjamaand Catheline Kinaare busily strippingtea tree leaves fromfreshly-pluckedbranches which yieldthe prized essentialoil.

Once distilled,the oil will make itsway to a variety offormulations or soldas pure essential oil,which would eventu-ally end up in phar-macies, beauty retailstores and householdsaround the world.

a hardy member of themyrtle family, Melaleucaalternifolia can grow up to7m tall. The delicate, narrowleaves are rich in aromaticoils. left undisturbed, thestalks bear fluffy white flow-ers on their tips in spring time.

The australian aborigineshave long known of tea tree’spotent and highly effec-tive uses. Traditionally, theycrushed the leaves to treatskin infections. Today, teatree oil is renowned for itsantibacterial, antifungal andantiseptic properties. It’s alsoprized for treating acne andrespiratory problems.

While the tree is native toaustralia, the Kenya OrganicOils Farmers association(Koofa) has successfully cul-tivated a premium grade oforganic tea tree that offers alifeline to impoverished com-munities.

The farms are scatteredaround the small town of NaroMoro at the foothills of MountKenya, accessible after hoursvia a bumpy dirt track.

at James Munyiri’s farm,slender tea trees thick withleaves await harvesting. Thisnew crop won’t yield as manyleaves as the older ones whichhave been cut back close tothe ground. Eventually theywill regrow more stems. Babyseedlings are neatly spacedbetween 1.5ft and 2.5ft (0.5m-0.8m) to allow space forgrowth.

Organic composting, whichincludes farm waste andnatural manure, are used inplace of fertilisers. Mulch isemployed to trap water in thesoil.

“Nothing of the tea tree iswasted,” says Munyiri. “We

use the main branches for fire-wood or to support our beans.Smaller stems are processedalong with the leaves. afterdistillation, the leftover plantfibres are used on the crops asmulch.”

at Earthoil’s distillationplant near the Nanyuki air-strip, trucks haul in piles offreshly harvested tea treeleaves in numbered jute sacksthat can be traced back to thefarm.

Macadamia nuts are usedto run a boiler for the delicatethree-hour-long distillationprocess to extract the volatileoil from the plants. The firsthour will yield most of the oil,followed by higher quality oil.

Work goes on around theclock at this production plantto ensure that the preciousplants are processed imme-diately upon harvesting tomaintain optimum quality.

The result is the valuable,colourless oil that slowly dripsout from what is essentially agiant kettle.

Tea tree oil has over 60components and is among themost important natural anti-septics to earn a place in everyFirst aid kit. It is useful fortreating wounds, cuts, stings,burns and skin infections.

The essential oil is alsoexcellent in treating smellyfeet, head lice, acne and coldsores. However, while theoil is skin-friendly, it is toxicwhen consumed.

The Body Shop counts itstea tree oil range as a peren-nial bestseller beloved bycustomers through the years.It is especially in demand as atreatment for acne-prone skinand a quick antiseptic for cutsand wounds.

Goodness in a leaf

The leaves of the Melaleuca alternifolia contain oil that is much sought-after by the beauty industry.

Hours of distillation yield the prized andaromatic tea tree oil.

Stories by CHIN MUI YOONstar2@thestar.com.my

IT all began when amandaMurphy, who founded TeddyExports in India, turned up at The

Body Shop office in Britain and refusedto leave until Dame anita roddicktook a look at the little rolling woodenmassagers she was selling under herfledgling company.

Murphy’s persistence was dulyrewarded when roddick placed anorder of 10,000 rollers for The BodyShop.

That was 25 years ago. Today, TheBody Shop remains Teddy Exports’largest customer, importing over 2.3million accessories annually.

Teddy Exports began in 1990 as afive-employee company operating outof a mud hut in Tirumangalam, a smallvillage in south India, producing goodsmade from locally sourced Acacianilotica wood. It has since grown intoa major exporter, employing over 500people. The community has also ben-efited with over 700 children havingbeen put through school through acommunal fund.

“The Body Shop was their first cus-tomer,” recalls Mark Davis, The BodyShop’s Community Fair Trade (CFT)director.

“The power of change is in the handsof consumers who believe in the ethicspractised by The Body Shop. Some 80%of our products contain CFT-sourcedproducts. We are not a charity. Wetrade (with), not aid, communities. Weuse our commercial buying power tobring change like what we see throughTeddy Exports.”

This year is special for The BodyShop as it marks the 25th anniversaryof its CFT programme, which beganwhen roddick kept discovering rawingredients for cosmetics produced byindigenous communities during hertravels.

“In those days, there wasn’t a singlecooperative representing these com-munities,” says Davis. “anita stronglybelieved that we could deliver a form ofsocial change through our commercialpurchasing power. This principle hasremained as one of our core values.”

a similar successful collabora-tion was formed with the TungteiyaWomen’s Shea Butter association inGhana. roddick met local women inTamale who’d been collecting nutsfrom the shea tree which are madeinto a moisturiser to protect their skinfrom the harsh Saharan winds. roddicksaw the efficacy of the ingredient andplaced an order from women from 10villages who formed an association tochurn out the product for her.

Today, The Body Shop buys 410tonnes of shea butter from that samecooperative, making it the single larg-est customer. The now-thriving coop-erative has 500 members supplyingthe butter globally.

The women’s standing in their com-munities has increased, as have theirliving standards. Their income fundedwells and water pipes, and provideaccess to medical care, housing andeducation for the whole community.The association has created a com-munity project fund used to build 10nursery schools, three medical centres,latrines and washing facilities for localvillages.

Most of all, the income is sustain-able, as shea trees are readily availablein Tamale, live for up to 300 years andare adapted to the dry climate.

The Body Shop currently trades with26 cooperatives around the world foringredients and products. These rangefrom baskets in Bangladesh and hand-made paper in Nepal, to cactus mittsfrom Mexico, and organic babassu oilfrom Brazil. Highly moisturising hempseed oil and chamomile water is pur-chased from small British farms.

The Body Shop buys more than

1,000 tonnes of CFT ingredients. Thestaggering amount includes enoughcocoa butter for 15 million chocolatebars and honey for 60 million piecesof toast.

and yes, folks continue to turn up atThe Body Shop’s office in littlehamptonwith jars and bottles of raw ingredientsor plant extracts that they hope wouldsomeday be turned into a much-in-demand product.

“We are constantly on the lookoutfor innovative new ingredients thatwe formulate into brilliant products; itrequires years of research and devel-opment,” says Davis.

roddick’s legacy (she died in 2007from a brain hemorrhage, aged 64)of trading fairly continues today withThe Body Shop’s latest collaborationwith the Kenya Organic Oil Farmersassociation (Koofa). aside from teatree oil, Davis adds that the companyis exploring the possibility of produc-ing other oils that complement teatree between harvests.

“We are proud to have been thepioneers in the beauty industry whenit comes to trading fairly with suppli-ers in latin america. We have put in

place an effective chain and a commu-nity fund that ensures middlemen areremoved and profits channelled backto the farmers.

“Our suppliers have many othercustomers today. We’ve had manyrequests for referrals for raw ingre-dients and we are only too happy torecommend our suppliers.

“Specialty organic ingredients likeKoofa’s tea tree oil will always be indemand. We work with Earthoil asthey have a proven track record andthey train field officers and provideagronomists to deal with all aspectsof farming the crops. This way, localemployment is ensured and beneficialskills are taught.

“I was on a field visit in Ghana whenI was startled to see that the appointedsecretary of the Tungteiya Women’sShea Butter association was aseshitu.She used to help her mother churnout shea butter. Despite growing up inextreme poverty, she benefited fromone of the schools built from the com-munity fund. Today she is a successful,independent young businesswoman.

“To me, that’s what our CFT is allabout,” Davis says.

� LIVING Star2, Monday 3 SepTeMber 2012

Fair trade

The late The bodyShop founder, dameanita roddick,having shea butterapplied to her faceby a Ghanaianstallholder. ascosmetics containingshea butter pop upon more Westernsupermarketshelves, little dobuyers realise thatsales of this age-oldbeauty-boosting nutare helping legionsof african womenfeed and school theirchildren.

Better butter:nuts from the sheatree that produce amoisturiser that is

now a globallypopular beauty aid.