Elephant Pepper Development Trust

HIGHLIGHTS Project Goals: 1. To reduce human- wildlife conflict – particularly crop damage 2.  To investigate how people can benefit from living in close proximity to wildlife WCS Involvement WCS has supported the EPDT for nearly 10 years Partners: WCS has teamed up with the EPDT and African Spices Ltd. to promote the Elephant Pepper products Contacts Elephant Pepper Development Trust info@elephantpepper.org PO Box 60301 Livingstone Zambia Monica Wrobel, MSc Program Manager, Africa Program wcsafrica@wcs.org Support this Project! For more information and to order Elephant Pepper products, see www.elephantpepper.org

The Elephant Pepper Development Trust (EPDT) was established as a unique initiative to reduce human-elephant conflict. Through the creation and promotion of benefits resulting from the production of chilli peppers, farmers have a new cash crop in rural areas in Africa. “Elephants hate chilli!” is an appropriate slogan, as chillis can be effective in keeping elephants away. EPDT advises farmers on natural resources conservation and sustainable use while preventing conflict with wildlife.

The Human Aspect

©Monica Wrobel

The human population in Africa is increasing at a rate of nearly 4% per year.  At the same time, African elephant populations are growing throughout Southern Africa but only 20% of elephant range is formally protected. Increasingly, rural farmers and elephants share the same landscape as agriculture expands and elephant populations are compressed. Under these circumstances elephants can cause widespread damage to a farmers’ crops, and compete with communities for land and resources. Even in areas where elephants generate large revenues through tourism, little of the money may be seen at the rural household level and the poorest African farmer is most affected. Resolving conflict between humans and elephants is widely recognized as one of the most pressing wildlife management issues in Africa, as costs must be reduced and benefits shared if elephants are to persist in agricultural areas.

Threats

As crop-raiding elephants may pose a danger to farmers and their livelihoods, they are often viewed as pests and may be persecuted.  This negative perception builds animosity towards the elephants as well as the protected areas that contain large populations. In addition, as the human population grows, the increasing conversion of woodland to farmland threatens the survival of elephant populations within many landscapes. Managing agriculture and elephants within the same area presents a complex problem.

WCS Activities

Rural farmers employ a variety of traditional methods for protecting crops from elephants, including beating drums, cracking whips, and burning fires. Alternatively, high tech solutions, such as electric fences, may be used. These techniques have met with varied success and tend to be costly and time-consuming. In response to this dilemma, conservationists from the EPDT have worked with rural farmers to develop long term solutions that are financially and technologically accessible to more people.

 

An important discovery of this work in the Zambezi Valley was the realization that elephants are sensitive to capsaicin, the part of chilli peppers that results in their characteristic “hot” taste. Since chilli peppers can also serve as a reliable cash crop, the EPDT has developed an approach which focuses on training farmers in the production and manufacture of chilli crops and establishing a communally-owned business based on fair-trade practices.

 

The growing business now offers a range of products ranging from a line of chilli sauces to Elephant Pepper branded items. These chilli crops therefore serve not only as a deterrent to elephants, but also result in direct profits to the rural farmers. In addition, the EPDT trains farmers in alternative and safe methods to combat crop raiding, such as erecting chilli coated fences and burning chili briquettes to produce an acrid smoke that deters elephants. To date, EPDT has held training courses in Botswana, Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia,  Zambia, Zimbabwe and Lao PDR.

 

WCS and Elephant Pepper

Elephant Pepper hot sauce products are now on sale in South Africa and the U.S. A portion of the product sales directly benefits the Wildlife Conservation Society and its ongoing work to protect elephants and mitigate conflicts between humans and wildlife. Products like Elephant Pepper truly represent the frontiers of conservation, where human livelihoods, wildlife, and wild lands intersect.

Important Next Steps

• Expand the international market for the Elephant Pepper products in order to increase profit for participating rural farmers and to promote awareness of elephant conservation.
• Increase training programs throughout areas dealing with problem animal control issues and affected by elephants moving through areas.
• Assess the effectiveness of training courses and techniques in helping to reduce human-elephant conflict.