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South Africa has the potential to be a major supplier of certain essential oils, such as rosemary, lemon grass, lavender, lemon balm and rose geranium.
The eucalyptus oil sector is some 80 years old and is largely self-sufficient and established. Others, like geranium, lavender and chamomile are relatively new.
The essential oil industry is driven by two main factors: commercial farmers seeking alternative high value crops to diversify risk and increase profitability; and rural communities
Government and NGO’s seeking high value crops that can be produced on a co-operative basis thereby creating jobs in economically depressed rural areas.
The South African essential oils industry comprises over 80 small commercial producers of which fewer than 20% are regular producers. Most oil production is Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape
