Rooibos tea under threat

Farm workers swing their sickles through red branches, bundling them up before laying them out in the sunshine to dry.

The annual harvest at Groenkol Rooibos tea estate in the Western Cape helps quench the world's growing thirst for "red bush" tea, but farmers fear climate change could destroy the delicate ecosystem on which their crop depends.

Annual exports of rooibos have quadrupled in the last 13 years.

The tea is popular for its perceived health benefits as well as its refreshing taste and has become a trendy drink in many countries.

It contains no caffeine and just a tiny amount of tannin.

But rooibos tea only grows in this region - nowhere else in the world.

"Very few plants can survive in the dry, sandy terrain, but rooibos bushes thrive in this area, living in symbiosis with micro-organisms in the soil. Farmers have tried to grow rooibos in Australia, the US, even China - each time they've failed," said Chris Du Plessis, who runs Elandsberg Eco Tourism.

Willem Engelbrecht inherited Groenkol Rooibos Tea Estate from his father.

"Over the last 10 years, there are more and more strange things happening," said Engelbrecht.

The area already endures extreme weather conditions. The temperature drops to freezing in winter and reaches 48C in summer, meaning summers are hotter and winters drier. As a result, Engelbrecht has had to adapt his farming techniques.

Climate change experts have warned that the Western Cape will be hit hard over the next 100 years.

But t he rooibos industry is booming, with the Cederberg area producing 12000 tonnes of tea a year .

Tea production also provides an estimated 4500 jobs to the area.

The question for farmers like Engelbrecht is how long this boom can last before climate change kills off their crops and affects this multi- million rand industry.