In Madagascar, there is the challenge of finding alternatives to the overexploitation of wild pepper. This spice endemic to the humid forests of the east of the Big Island, exported to the United States, Europe and Asia, is prized by the chefs of top restaurants. But today it is increasingly rare.
With our correspondent in Antananarivo,
FoFiFa, a national center for applied research in rural development, seeks to make the pepper sector more sustainable, alongside local communities who derive income from this activity, explains Harizoly Razafimandimby, researcher at the Department of Forestry Research and Natural Resource Management. . She has been working for more than ten years on the wild pepper tree, locally called the “tsiperifery.”
RFI: What threats does the wild pepper plant in Madagascar face?
Harizoly Razafimandimby: It is above all the collection method used by the pickers that is at the origin of the threat. The wild pepper plant is a large vine that can climb up to 20 meters on a stake tree to seek light. People cut the vine with the guardian tree to be able to reach the bunches and this is the main threat. So in the forests where the pickers have already passed, there are almost no more female plants. Before, when they went to collect, for example, 30 kilos of bags of pepper, they left for the day. But afterwards, they left for almost a week in the forest to have the same quantity.
How many years has this pepper been exploited?
The exploitation of wild pepper in Madagascar began around 2004 with its export. Before that, it was a species well known to local populations. There have always been local channels but with very small quantities, sold fresh, on local markets and the markets of Antananarivo. It is used locally as a medicinal plant and as an ingredient to make the typical Malagasy pepper, the Malagasy sakay.
How is this sector organized from collection to export?
The pickers, the first players in the sector, are poorly paid in relation to the final sale price because there are many intermediaries up to export. They sell their pepper for around 3,000 ariary per kilo, or less than one euro. They cannot keep the pepper fresh once picked. So you have to sell it at any price. They are badly remunerated but this nevertheless constitutes a source of money, especially since the fruiting period of the wild pepper plant coincides with the lean periods in rural areas. In our projects, we have provided training and equipment to people to enable them to dry pepper at their level and therefore keep it longer and improve their bargaining power.
Has the lack of knowledge and data also contributed to its endangerment?
Research has been overtaken by exploitation. First, there is a major gap in scientific knowledge. Ancient botanical research has confused tsiperifery with Reunion pepper while our recent research has shown that they are two different species.
At the level of the local populations, as it is an opportunistic source of money at the start, the main thing was to have a large quantity in a single collection. They did not know that the species is dioecious, that is to say that the female and male feet are separated, which contributed to endangering it. Stock assessment is currently underway. We do our best to have all the information that could help in the sustainable management of this product, but our main activities are financed by projects resulting from competitive tenders. This is why we are moving very slowly.
What are the possible alternatives to avoid the disappearance of this endemic species from Madagascar?
In our research, we have developed a technical itinerary for domestication. We collaborate with local associations to plant wild pepper plants either on the edge of forests or in forests to keep the wild aspect of the product. We already have fruitful feet. We have planted over 10,000 female tsiperifery plants in the forest. We are on the right track, but we are slowed down by the lack of funding to set up nurseries, expand our fields of action and work with other local populations. It is a product that could be used to improve the lives of rural populations in Madagascar and which could also be reconciled with the conservation of forests because once people are convinced that the forest is their source of income , it’s easier to make them understand that they have to keep it.
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