Doing Good
Happy Farming
At Yogi Tea, we believe that farming should heal the world, not harm it.
Our commitment to sourcing the best organic ingredients stretches back over 50 years. And yet, we remain in the minority; in 2022, only 2% of the world’s agricultural land was managed organically.
As the need for resilient, sustainable farming grows, farmers are leading the way to a happier farming future. We’re proud to feature one of those leaders in our Happy Farming tea: Richard and Karen Bowsher of Klip op Mekaar rooibos farm.
A unique farm for a unique ingredient.
Rooibos is a leguminous shrub indigenous to the Cederberg region of the Western Cape in South Africa. This region is part of the Cape Floristic Region, one of the world's six floral kingdoms and a global biodiversity hotspot.
For centuries, the indigenous Khoisan people harvested rooibos for its medicinal properties. The plant thrives in South Africa’s climate and the acidic, sandy soils of the region. To honor the plant’s uniqueness, rooibos enjoys Protected Designation of Origin status in the European Union.
Klip op Mekaar was founded in 2007 and set out to be sustainable from the start. Spread over 630-hectares, the farm is surrounded by 5,300 hectares of pristine wilderness – land the farmers have actively chosen to conserve.
Organic from their inception, Klip op Mekaar embraced low-impact farming with minimum tillage before moving to no-till in 2019. They rotate in multispecies cover crops to replenish soil organic matter between rooibos harvests.
Grants from The Yogi Foundation funded equipment to make natural compost-based fertilizers, rich in diverse fungal life, that are applied to their fields every spring; they help young rooibos plants set down stronger roots in their vulnerable early life.
Carbon Negative rooibos: the result of careful farming
After factoring in the carbon they emit, a revolutionary outcome emerges: Klip op Mekaar’s rooibos is carbon negative. That means that they sequester more carbon in their soil than they emit through their farm’s activities.
Their independently validated findings estimate that they’ve stored approximately 21,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalents over the last seven years.
That’s regenerative agriculture in action: delicious, nutritious rooibos, that fights climate change with every cup.
Using hundreds of soil samples dating back ten years, Klip op Mekaar can show that their careful farming practices are making a difference by increasing nutrient levels, building organic material, and increasing carbon in soils.
The increase in soil carbon levels on their farm between 2016 to 2024 is significant:
Klip op Mekaar is a working model of what regenerative agriculture can achieve.
Beyond the environmental benefits, another positive outcome from their sustainable approach is a significant increase in rooibos yield. Far from reducing productivity, the farm’s sustainable practices have made it more fertile and efficient.
Too often, sustainability is seen as a trade-off with profitability, but Klip op Mekaar proves otherwise. Healthier soils not only store more carbon, but they also produce stronger, more resilient crops.
Klip op Mekaar shows that environmental stewardship and economic success can, and do, go hand in hand. When dedicated farmers are empowered with resources and knowledge, the results speak for themselves.
This is regeneration in action. It makes happy farms, happy farmers, and our Happy Farming tea.