Barend's journey from Rooibos to Zhangzhou tea
Fairtrade farmer Barend Solomo, a producer at Wupperthal Original Rooibos Cooperative in the Western Cape, attended a two-month Tea Master training course at a famous tea college in China's city of Zhangzhou. Home to tea for almost 5,000 years, Allafrica.com says, China is the cradle of the brew - and Solomo was submerged in the Chinese tea culture.
Sponsored by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, the curriculum covered a variety of subjects including tea food safety and hygiene, brewing tea skills, storage of tea food, and tea and tourism. He also took part in site visits and planted tea trees.
According to Allafrica.com, Solomo was able to attend the lucrative course after South Africa's Ministry of Agriculture approached Fairtrade Africa to nominate a farmer to attend the college. 'It was hard work but I have learned a lot," he said. Solomo is a descendant of the indigenous Khoisan, one of the first tribes to start using rooibos as a herbal infusion. "I gathered ideas on how we can promote our own tea culture and how this will improve the lives of families in our community."
Read the full article on http://allafrica.com.
