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South Africa is overlooking the economic potential of Aloe Ferox

25 March 2025 | Story Andre Damons | Photo Andre Damons

Dr Gerard Verhoef, an intellectual property (IP) commercialisation specialist at Barnard Incorporated Attorneys, gave an oral presentation at the second Southern African Mountain Conference.

South Africa is neglecting and overlooking the economic potential of Aloe ferox, forfeiting millions in potential revenue from this ‘green gold’. In doing so, the country is denying farmers and communities the chance to prosper from the land’s true bounty and is also undermining its biodiversity.

While South Africa harvests a mere 200 tons of Aloe ferox annually, its global competitors, such as Mexico, churn out a staggering 400 000 tons of Aloe vera, says Dr Gerard Verhoef, an intellectual property (IP) commercialisation specialist at Barnard Incorporated Attorneys. He gave an oral presentation titled IKS, the public domain and Biotrade during a session on Mountain People's Livelihoods at the second Southern African Mountain Conference (SAMC2025).

Researchers, policy makers, and practitioners from across Southern Africa and beyond came together from 17 to 20 March at the scenic Champagne Sports Resort in the central Maluti-Drakensberg for SAMC2025 themed ‘Overcoming Boundaries and Barriers’.

The next rooibos

SAMC2025, under the patronage of UNESCO and organised by the University of the Free State (UFS) Afromontane Research Unit (ARU) – in partnership with the African Mountain Research Foundation (AMRF) and the Global Mountain Safeguard Research Programme (GLOMOS) – delved into critical issues around mountain ecosystems, communities, governance, and transboundary cooperation.

Aloe ferox could be the next rooibos, which is successfully using its geographical indications (GI) status to unlock value throughout the biotrade value chain, Dr Verhoef said. Other South African plants that are also an underutilised asset with economic potential for the country, include honeybush, baobab, umsuzwane, rose geranium, imphepho, Cape chamomile, Kalahari melon, mafura, sour plum, and African ginger.

A GI consists of the name of the place of origin. It links a product to a specific geographical area, which indicates the origin of where the product is produced, processed, or prepared.

Overlooking the potential of Aloe ferox, which has been scientifically proven to contain double the amino acids and 20 times more antioxidants than its international cousin, Aloe vera, Dr Verhoef explains, South Africa is not only undermining its biodiversity but also the economy. Aloe ferox is most popularly used for its laxative effect (aloe bitters) and as a topical application to the skin, eyes, and mucous membranes. It is also used for many traditional uses as well as cosmetic purposes.

Time to capitalise

According to him, Aloe ferox remains an underutilised asset, relegated to niche markets and small-scale production due to regulatory constraints and the unwillingness to obtain access and benefit-sharing (ABC) permits needed to navigate obstacles in South Africa as well as Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique.

“This is not just an agricultural oversight; it is a glaring economic misstep. It is high time that South Africa capitalises on its green gold, turning the tables on international competitors and finally giving Aloe ferox the global podium it deserves. This is not just an agricultural oversight; it is a glaring economic misstep.

“Aloe ferox could be a flagship in the global wellness market, much like rooibos has become for tea. But until we embrace and promote our indigenous resources with the same vigour as we do foreign ones, our ‘green gold’ will remain just out of reach, a latent promise unfulfilled. It’s high time South Africa capitalise and turn the tables on international competitors, finally giving Aloe ferox the global podium it deserves,” said Dr Verhoef.

The path forward, he explains, requires a radical shift in how we view and value our native species. It demands a coalition of dedicated scientists, legal advisers, and farmers to advocate for more accommodating regulations and stronger market support. The pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries – major users of aloe products – must also be brought into the fold to help recalibrate the scales in favour of Aloe ferox. South Africa’s rich biodiversity is a national treasure, yet our approach to leveraging this wealth remains timid and fragmented.

News Archive

Ghanaian academic speaks about next generation of African scholars

2013-10-08

Attending the seminar were from left: Adv Erika Cilliers, Sisa Mlonyeni (both from the Office of the Public Protector), Prof Adomako Ampofo and Prof Heidi Hudson, Head of the Centre for Africa Studies.
Photo: Jerry Mokoroane
08 October 2013

Prof Akosua Adomako Ampofo, one of the Centre for Africa Studies’newly-appointed advisory board members, addressed students and staff on 3 October 2013. Her topic Are you the scholar Africa needs?enthralled the audience with the passionate way in which she argued for nurturing activist-scholars rather than scholars who simply produce knowledge for the sake of it. “It is more urgent than ever before that … we do not simply see our roles as researchers and teachers, but that we are committed to impacting our communities” for the better – also by “making our knowledge production globally visible,” she argued. Africa is said to contribute less than 0.5 percent of the world’s scientific publications. The fact that most of these – and nearly all of the social science production – emanate from just three nations (Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa) means that many countries are absent from the radar.

According to her, the next generation of African scholars will have to compete within a hostile terrain where private universities are proliferating and costs of higher education are on the rise. These scholars will have to possess 22nd century skills, but a 20th century heart and sensitivity for the continent and its people.

Drawing on Kwame Nkrumah, Prof Ampofo proposed three guiding principles for becoming the scholars Africa needs. Firstly, by having a passion for knowledge as well as an Africa-centred knowledge – “nobody can tell our stories better than we can.”. Secondly, to translate our research into outputs not only in the form of internationally-recognised publications, but also in popular sources that will be read by a much wider public. And lastly, to carrying the torch for teaching and learning in the classroom – preparing our students to serve Africa or, as Nkrumah said, producing “devoted men and women with imagination and ideas, who, by their life and actions, can inspire our people to look forward to a great future.”.

Akosua Adomako Ampofo is a Professor of African and Gender Studies, and Director of the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana, Legon. An activist-scholar, her current work addresses African knowledge systems; race, ethnicity and identity politics; gender-based expressions of violence; constructions of masculinities; women and work; and popular culture. She is currently co-editing a volume titled, Transatlantic Feminisms: Women and Gender in Africa and the African Diaspora.In 2010, she was awarded the Sociologists for Women in Society Feminist Activism Award.

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