Hoodia gordonii

The San and Nama of Namibia call the plant //hoba. It is a leafless succulent, having multiple stems with sharp spines. There are ten hoodia species growing throughout the north-western, western and southern regions of Namibia, of which the most common are Hoodia gordonii and H. currorii. The species of commercial interest, Hoodia gordonii is found from the fringes of the Kalahari Desert in the east through the southern and western regions of Namibia (and South Africa and Botswana), where it is common in localised areas in the transitional zone between the interior and the Namib Desert, that is its range corresponds roughly to the succulent Karoo biome and northwards.

The curious flowers of the hoodia exude a distinctive odour of rotten meat (this type of flower is known as a carrion flower), which attracts insects and flies, the latter being especially responsible for pollination. Ranging from very small (1 cm in diameter) to large (15 cm in diameter), the flowers are saucer- or bell-shaped, their colours varying from red, pink and brown to yellow. Seeds are borne in horned, dehiscent pods. The drop-shaped seeds are attached to a tuft of silky-white hairs which act as a parachute to aid wind dispersal of the brown seeds when ripe.

The genus enjoys protection both locally under the Nature Conservation Ordinance of 1975, and under Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

Traditional knowledge and uses

For centuries hoodia plants have been used traditionally by the San for a number of important medical applications. Its fleshy parts are used to treat conditions such as high blood pressure, indigestion, infections and diabetic-like illness. It is said that the plant is also used as an energy booster and a general tonic.

It has also been used to quench the thirst and sate the hunger of San hunters in the arid regions of Namibia and South Africa. Based on this traditional knowledge of the ‘first people’, hoodia developed a reputation as a potential dietary supplement that could target the growing western obesity epidemic and was to allow the San communities to benefit from an ancient botanical tradition through a benefit-sharing arrangement with the developers of the new treatment.

Following nearly a decade of research, the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) filed a patent application under the International Patent Cooperation Treaty system based on a national patent application made in 1997 in South Africa. The patent covers the pharmaceutical compositions extracted from Hoodia gordonii and identified as chemical products having appetite suppressant activity, and the process of extraction. CSIR also made direct national patent applications in other countries, namely the USA, where it was granted in 1999. Development of a dietary product was undertaken by Unilever, under an exclusive development agreement. While this meant that Unilever obtained the plant material for their purposes solely from their own cultivated plants, it did not prevent the rise of illegal, relentless wild harvesting, resulting in major conservation concerns around the wild populations in Namibia and South Africa, leading to the listing on CITES Appendix II in 2005.

The research and development of a product by CSIR/Unilever for entry into a highly specialised market excluded most Namibian and South African growers, who then positioned themselves to enter into less rigorous herbal markets.  Namibian growers organise themselves with the support of the Namibian Government. They formed an association to represent their interests, established a fledging supply chain that included commercial farmers, communal farmers, conservancies and community organisations, developed a business plan for commercialisation with links to the association members, and reached out in the region to South African growers. Traditional knowledge holders were also to be producers and would obtain equity shares in the commercial operation. European Union funds were obtained to strengthen the supply chain by providing community-based growers with nursery infrastructure, start-up growing packs that included seedlings and seeds, and training in nursery management and quality issues.

When the CSIR/Unilever initiative failed to meet with expectations, the message from Unilever was that they had efficacy and safety concerns in the way they were trying to formulate their product based on the extract. This negative outcome, after such a large investment into the research and development and all the media hype, led to a plummeting international demand for hoodia material and resulted in the collapse of the emerging herbal-based industries in Namibia and South Africa. Today, although the demand for hoodia material has been depressed since the CSIR/ Unilever dropped attempts to develop a product, it has not entirely disappeared.

The full potential of hoodia is still to be investigated and opportunities other than for diet/weight loss, in many cases based on traditional knowledge, are worth pursuing further. At this stage, investment in research for new products that may lead to new commercial opportunities in new markets is required.