The salt industry in Southern Africa plays a crucial role in both regional economies and global markets. It is used for a variety of purposes, from food preservation to industrial applications. The region benefits from abundant natural resources, particularly from salt pans and seawater evaporation, which are critical to production. However, within this industry, the Baleni Salt Makers stand out with their unique and sustainable approach.
Baleni is the only active salt production site in South Africa where indigenous people harvest salt according to indigenous knowledge systems. It is also the only un-developed hot spring left in Southern Africa. This uniqueness makes it not only a salt mining space, but tourist destination as well.
The Baleni Salt Makers
Baleni Salt Makers currently consists of 30 Tsonga women from Mahumani Traditional Authority in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. The area faces challenges including high poverty and unemployment, and poor state of existing social amenities such as health facilities. The area has been selected by the government for assistance under the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme, which partly seek to deal with rural poverty through the optimal use and management of natural resources.
Baleni Salt Makers live a few kilometers from Baleni site, which incorporates:
- the Baleni hot spring
- the Baleni wetland
- archaeological zone including the northern boundary of Klein Letaba River
- surrounding Mopani veld vegetation zone
- a tourist base camp on the south-eastern periphery
Baleni, a sacred site, was declared a Natural Heritage Site by President Nelson Mandela in 1999. The water from the hot spring has high levels of sodium chloride hence the local women have been harvesting salt using ancient ways during the dry winter months and repeating the ritual the same way for about 1700 years before present.
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BALENI SALT - Authentic Heritage and Cultural Experience in Limpopo
Traditional Salt Making Techniques
Salt making takes place on tribal land, and is a resource open to all females in the community. Using 2000-year old techniques, the women collect salt-encrusted sand from the Baleni site; leach it with water through traditional filters made of clay, sticks and leaves; boil it to evaporation leaving pure crystals of healthy Baleni Sacred Salt. The sample sent tested by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research returned good results including the presence of trace elements such as calcium, potassium and magnesium.
Baleni salt making follows specific sacred rules:
- It is culturally a preserve of women and boasts of a democratic tradition beginning about 1700 CE against the background of South Africa`s which was only realized in 1994
- Aspiring salt miners need to be introduced to ancestors by a senior salt miner
- The women use a distinct derived language of pseudonyms
- The stable production technology has been passed on from generation to generation
- In succession, there emerges senior women who serve as chief priestesses
Uses and Appreciation of Baleni Salt
Baleni salt is greatly appreciated for its flavor and “healing” properties. First, Baleni salt is used for preparing and seasoning food. Second, this natural salt is used for health and wellness purposes with reported wide spread usage for healing ailments such as body swells, hypertension and diabetes. Third, Baleni salt is used as a spiritual remedy by different religions. Fourth, there is a great wealth of cultural tourism associated with the story of Baleni salt.
The salt is disposed of in five ways. Baleni salt is now used by select Michelin chefs for specialty foods. Due to the product’s improved profile, it was included in the Slow Food’s Ark Taste.
Sustainable Development and Climate Impacts
The commercialization of Baleni salt for a poor rural community has been an effective tool for tackling Sustainable Development Goal targets for poverty, extreme hunger and starvation and environmental sustainability. The initiative produces about 2 metric tons of salt each year. It has maintained the environmental integrity of the Baleni site for over 2000 years as a result of sustainable management. Using its close connection to the African religion, the initiative has ensured that there is a robust indigenous knowledge system that admits resource users and governs their appropriation.
Read also: History of Salt in Africa
The initiative reduces the community’s vulnerability to climate-related water stresses. Mahumani Traditional Authority area is water stressed area with no prospects for crop agriculture. There is limited livestock production which also reels from water stress. The water situation limits the community’s livelihood options from its land. Baleni salt making introduces a livelihood option which thrives despite inadequate fresh water supplies. As salt deposits are effectively collected from the dry riverbed, climate change which results in lesser water over more months opens for the lengthening of the salt making season.
Baleni salt making has helped tackle SDG targets for poverty, hunger, health, and sustainability.
- Goals 1 and 10: It helps eradicate extreme poverty and reduce inequality by producing an extra income for elderly women who rely on social grants. Statistics suggest that each women gets an average income of US$0.31 per day from salt making.
- Goals 2 and 12: It co-exists with livestock grazing in the Baleni wetland helping to achieve both sustainable food production systems and sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources.
- Goal 3: It produces a natural salt which promotes human health and wellness. Baleni salt helps provide essential traditional medicines for managing specific ailments.
- Goal 5: It levels the playing field by offering economic opportunities to women. Baleni salt making has opened up space for women involvement in discussions around land and water management as part of the recently propounded Mahumani Integrated and Sustainable Development Initiative.
Resilience, Adaptability, and Self-Sufficiency
Attempts to promote tourism have favoured wildlife-based tourism in some areas. However, this strategy has renewed interest in Baleni salt and generated a community-wide interest in sharing other traditional crafts and skills with tourists. For tourists, what was originally a one-night visit to the camp is now becoming a multi-day experiential visit. Guests can combine safari tours with salt harvesting, dancing and cooking lessons, instruction in beading and basic language lessons - a true immersion into current Tsonga traditional life. There are plans for the community to benefit even more by including the provision of bedding for the tourists by locals. Thus the salt making tourist has managed to break the ice between tourists and locals to the extent that tourists want more and more cultural tourism. Thus, the development of the Baleni salt business has engaged the local producer-community with the tourism industry, and set the stage for wider community engagement.
Baleni salt is a unique product: its main element comes from a place considered sacred; its main element comes from hot springs discharging an ideal chemical balance for health and wellness of the body; it is natural and sustainable; it is handcrafted using traditional ways infused with spirituality. These characteristics cannot easily be reproduced elsewhere. They are combine to form a unique technology which produces a unique product. This typically yields a supplier-driven value chain.
Reduced Inequalities and Gender Equality
Baleni salt is a unique product: its main element comes from a place considered sacred; its main element comes from hot springs discharging an ideal chemical balance for health and wellness of the body; it is natural and sustainable; it is handcrafted using traditional ways infused with spirituality. These characteristics cannot easily be reproduced elsewhere. They combine to form a unique technology which produces a unique product. This typically yields a supplier-driven value chain.
Read also: Explore the Siwa Salt Lakes
Baleni Salt Makers have started capitalising on their monopoly position to generate high levels of income from niche markets and reduce their inequalities against the others. Baleni salt is now used by select Michelin chefs for specialty foods. It was included in the Slow Food’s Ark Taste. Importantly, the tourism fraternity also believes in the health and wellness properties of Baleni salt as it is a natural salt. Tourists are willing to learn about traditional salt-making and the culture around it. The opportunities for greater income generation and lifting the economic position of women abound.
Baleni salt making is culturally a preserve of women and, as traditional custodians, boast of a tradition that has been gender-sensitive and democratic for about 1700 years-before-present against the background of South Africa`s democracy which was only realized in 1994. Men and women of the Mahumani Traditional Authority area are aware of the dominance of Tsonga women in Baleni salt making. The level of involvement in Baleni salt making by men is very minimal. They seldom help with collection of firewood or provide transport from the Baleni site to homes. The tourism fraternity is fully appraised of the dominance of (mostly elderly of above 55) women in Baleni salt making. The current elderly women who are practicing the trade have been initiated by their mothers and will in turn introduce their daughters to the trade. With Baleni salt, women have an enterprise that they can participate in without competition from men. As the Baleni site is a piece of tribal land which is under the control of women, Baleni salt making has set a stage whereby women’s voices are sought and respected in modern discussions around land and water management as part of the recently propounded Mahumani Integrated and Sustainable Development Initiative. Furthermore, the commercialization of Baleni salt for a poor rural community has been an effective tool for tackling Sustainable Development Goal targets for poverty, extreme hunger and starvation and environmental sustainability.
Social Inclusion
Baleni salt making is culturally a preserve of women. Men and women of the Mahumani Traditional Authority area are aware of the dominance of Tsonga women in Baleni salt making. The current elderly women who are practicing the trade have been initiated by their mothers and will in turn introduce their daughters to the trade.
Given the universal challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality which confront mainly rural and peri-urban people, they should participate in formal markets for their produce as that could earn them higher incomes because of the demand for value addition further along the value chain. As evidenced by the initiative, market value chains (MVCs) incorporating rural people may contain unique value components on account of the indigenous knowledge they embody. The scalability of the initiative should be along the dimension of how rural communities can sustainably manage complex ecosystems over long time horizons. Rural communities that depend on indigenous natural resources have increasingly been integrated into globalized MVCs through bio-prospecting contracts.
Rural communities are often uninformed about the comparative advantage they possess in harnessing indigenous knowledge to produce high-valued commodities for extended value chains. Research needs to locate the place of indigenous knowledge systems in market value chains and conscientize rural communities about ways through which they can capitalize on it to engender sustainable extraction of ecosystem goods and services. The principles of the initiative could therefore be replicated in any setting that seeks to impute a value on indigenous knowledge inputs and get a market premium for it.
Challenges and Opportunities in the Southern African Salt Industry
The Southern African salt industry produces a range of salt products, each suited for specific markets and uses. De-icing Salt: Used primarily in colder regions for melting ice on roads during winter. Most salt production in Southern Africa is based on solar evaporation of seawater or salt pans.
Variability in rainfall patterns, increased evaporation due to climate change, and unpredictable weather patterns can affect the supply of raw materials. Southern Africa, being a semi-arid region, faces ongoing water shortages. Salt production, particularly through evaporation, requires large quantities of water. In many parts of Southern Africa, there is a lack of adequate infrastructure for transporting salt from production areas to markets, particularly in landlocked countries. Roads, railways, and ports may be underdeveloped or in poor condition, increasing transportation costs. The global salt industry is highly competitive, and Southern African producers face price pressures from cheaper imports, particularly from countries like China and India.
Salt production, particularly from coastal and inland pans, can have negative environmental impacts. The process can affect local ecosystems, alter salinity levels in nearby water bodies, and contribute to the degradation of the land surrounding salt pans. As demand for more sustainable and environmentally friendly practices increases, salt producers in Southern Africa are facing stricter environmental regulations. The salt industry, particularly in remote or rural areas, struggles with a lack of skilled labour. Salt production, especially in the more traditional methods, requires a combination of technical and manual skills that may not always be available locally. The Southern African salt industry has been vulnerable to disruptions in the global supply chain, particularly related to shipping and international trade.
Developing more efficient and resilient salt production methods, including advanced evaporation technologies that use less water, can help mitigate climate and weather-related risks. Solar-powered desalination and evaporation processes could reduce water dependency and improve sustainability. Expanding into specialised salt products, such as kosher salt, Himalayan salt, or sea salt, could help differentiate Southern African salt in the global market. By exploring niche markets, like organic salt or salt with specific mineral content, producers can capture higher-value segments. Investment in transport and logistics infrastructure, particularly in landlocked countries, could lower costs and increase competitiveness.
Southern African salt producers could benefit from expanding into new export markets. Strengthening ties with neighbouring African countries, where salt consumption is growing, as well as diversifying into emerging markets in Asia and the Middle East, could offset stagnating domestic demand. Adopting more sustainable and eco-friendly production techniques, such as using renewable energy sources and adopting waste management best practices, can help improve the industry's environmental footprint and ensure compliance with stricter regulations. Collaborations with universities and research institutions could stimulate innovation in product diversification and enhance production methods. Governments and industry associations could collaborate to offer training programs that upskill workers in both traditional and modern salt production methods.
Salt producers can collaborate with local governments, NGOs, and international organizations to improve the resilience of the industry, particularly in terms of addressing water scarcity, promoting sustainable practices, and developing infrastructure. The Southern African salt industry holds significant potential for growth but faces many challenges, particularly related to climate, water scarcity, infrastructure, and market pressures. The South African packaged-food business landscape is undergoing significant reshaping.
Summary of Sustainable Development Goals Achieved by Baleni Salt Makers
| Sustainable Development Goal | Achievement |
|---|---|
| Goal 1 & 10: Poverty Reduction and Reduced Inequality | Provides extra income for elderly women, averaging US$0.31 per day. |
| Goal 2 & 12: Sustainable Food Production and Resource Management | Co-exists with livestock grazing, promoting sustainable food systems. |
| Goal 3: Health and Wellness | Produces natural salt used for traditional medicines and health benefits. |
| Goal 5: Gender Equality | Opens economic opportunities for women, promoting their involvement in land and water management discussions. |
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