Hoodia Gordonii is a product which is owed basically to the San tribes. Because of their experience on the desert, they were the focus group when this story began. In fact, it was the CSIR that started to study the eating habits of the Bushmen when the hoodia gordonii anti-obesity properties were found.

But what did the Bushmen get for their involvement in the Hoodia Gordonii discovery?

Well, at the beginning, they got nothing. Furthermore, when the CSIR licensed the patent to Phytopharm it was assumed that the tribe which discovered the Hoodia Gordonii plant had died out and therefore no royalties were due.

Hoodia, the southern African plant which the San have used as an appetite suppressant and thirst quencher for thousands of years, is under threat after being hammered so hard by people by people trying to make a quick buck that it may become extinct within two years.

Rachel Wynberg, of the University of Cape Town's Environmental Evaluation Unit, said on Thursday: "The resource in the wild is being devastated. We really need to act on the illegal exports."

San People and Hoodia Gordonii

san people of the kalahari

For many centuries the San people (also often named as San tribe or Bushmen) of the Kalahari desert in Southern Africa have used Hoodia plants as a food.  The relationship between San and hoodia goes thousands years back.

The ||Anikhwe of northern Botswana feed their children who "eat too much" with slices of Hoodia Gordonii to reduce their appetite. The practice laste no morethan 45-60 days, otherwise children could die

The Hai||om tribe in northern Namibia actually use Hoodia sap to treat allergic reactions in the eyes. Also, when they have severe stomach pain they boil small Hoodia pieces in water and drink the juice.

The obese members of the ‡Khomani community were eating the Hoodia to slim down.

All San communities reported than from ancient times the San hunters suppressed their hunger and kept their energy levels on their hunting trips by eating a slice of Hoodia twice a day.

The species Hoodia gordonii was less often used because of its lingering bitter taste being considered unpleasant. However, in times of hardship, or being away from familiar areas, it was sometimes eaten by the San people.

In recent years and today, Hoodia spp . are widely used traditionally by the San people as an appetite suppressant, thirst quencher and as a cure for severe abdominal cramps, haemorrhoids, tuberculosis, indigestion, hypertension and diabetes.

San

From The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition

SAN [San] , people of SW Africa, consisting of several groups and numbering over 85,000 in all. They are generally short in stature; their skin is yellowish brown in color; and they have broad noses, flat ears, bulging foreheads, and prominent cheekbones. The San have been called Bushmen by whites in South Africa, but the term is now considered derogatory.

san people
Although many now work for white settlers, about half are still nomadic hunters and gatherers of wild food in desolate areas like the Kalahari desert of SW Africa. Their social unit is the small hunting band; larger organizations are loose and temporary. Caves and rock shelters are used as dwellings.

South African tribesmen accuse Germany of illegally selling products from the desert plant

Southern Africa’s earliest inhabitants—the San Bushmen—are urging the governments of Switzerland, Germany, and South Africa to act against the illegal sale of products from the desert plant Hoodia gordonii.

While the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) stipulates that indigenous groups be given a share of the profits from the commercial use of local genetic resources and traditional knowledge, the San are yet to benefit from the many Hoodia products that are being sold in Germany and Switzerland.