Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Cambodia's pepper farmers get their champagne moment

December 9, 2009
Radio Australia

Black pepper is a staple spice across the world and has been for centuries, but those who grow it don't earn much for their efforts.

In southern Cambodia, a collective of pepper farmers will soon benefit from much-improved prices, after their variety of pepper enjoys the same naming rights as champagne.

Presenter: Robert Carmichael
Speakers: Nuon Yan, pepper farmer; Var Roth San, Ministry of Commerce; Jean-Marie Brun, GRET


CARMICHAEL: In the south of Cambodia not far from the border with Vietnam, 42-year-old farmer Nuon Yan tends his pepper vines. Under a shady trellis of rice sacks his 300 pepper vines produce the small, green peppercorns that - once picked and sundried - become the black peppercorns that appear on almost every table across the world.

Pepper is a ubiquitous and important spice, and is often referred to as the King of Spices. But as you might expect, some varieties of black pepper are better than others. And Kampot pepper, which comes from this corner of Cambodia, is rated among the finest. In the next few weeks Kampot pepper will get the same protection as champagne when its Geographical Indicator status - or GI status - is approved. That will mean unless pepper is grown in this area of Cambodia and meets certain quality standards, it may not be called Kampot pepper.

For Nuon Yan, who currently earns $2.50 a kilo for his black pepper, the GI status will have one important impact.

NUON YAN: If I can sell my pepper crop for a higher price, then I can earn more money.

CARMICHAEL: Nuon Yan is one of more than 100 pepper farmers who belong to the newly-established Kampot Pepper Producers' Association. It sets the rules for its members - most of whom are farmers like him. Var Roth San, the head of the intellectual property department at the Ministry of Commerce, says the financial benefits fit with the government's strategy to combat rural poverty.

VAR ROTH SAN: We want to create jobs, and we want our poor to get more money from their work in the rural area. GI law is one thing that will help the poor in the rural areas.

CARMICHAEL: Preparing an application for GI status is complicated work, and capacity is lacking in Cambodia's civil service. That is where people like Jean-Marie Brun come in. Brun works for a French agricultural NGO called GRET, which was involved in the GI project for Kampot pepper. He explains how GI works.

BRUN: The right to use the name Kampot pepper once it is registered belongs to anybody that complies with a certain number of requirements. Regarding the area where the pepper is produced, but also regarding the way it is produced and the quality of the final product.

CARMICHAEL: Cambodia is looking at getting GI status for several other products too. Among those are honey from the northeastern province of Ratanakkiri, and palm sugar from Kampong Speu province. But Kampot pepper will be the first to gain the term. Jean-Marie Brun says the key benefit for the pepper farmers is financial. The price of $2.50 per kilo that Nuon Yan gets will likely double once GI status is confirmed in the coming weeks. By the time the pepper gets to Europe and is retailed in 20 gram packets, the price reaches an equivalent of around $150 US dollars a kilo.

BRUN: Importers of Kampot pepper in Europe, for example, they know it has a name and they are willing to pay a higher price for that.

CARMICHAEL: Brun says a lot of the extra costs involved in the GI process - from marketing to certification - are paid for along the value chain. So the farmers do end up better off. Farmers can expect to add an extra $2.50 per kilo of pepper by joining the association, at a cost of perhaps 10 percent of that extra revenue. So it makes good sense for farmers, although until now Nuon Yan's earned more from his rice crop than his pepper crop. But that could soon change. Nuon Yan says he will bank some of the extra cash, but plans to reinvest the rest in more vines that produce Kampot pepper for dinner tables around the world.

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