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Pepper

Pepper is a flowering vine in the Piperaceae family. It is a perennial and climbing plant. The pepper plant provides three kinds of peppercorns: black pepper, white pepper and green pepper. Pepper is used as a spice and seasoning. The crop grows easily in warm and humid climates between 0 and 600 meters above sea level with temperatures from 22 to 30 °C.

Did you know…

  • Pepper originates from Malabar, a region on the western coast of South India

  • Worldwide there are more then 40 varieties of pepper cultivated in with slightly different flavors
  • Both black and white pepper have been used for centuries in Asia for all kinds of treatments

Most important export countries

  1. Vietnam
  2. Brazil
  3. Indonesia
  4. India
  5. Malaysia

Most important production countries

  1. Indonesia
  2. India
  3. Vietnam
  4. Brazil
  5. China

Production chain

The production of pepper mainly takes place on small scale farms. Except for Brazil, where pepper is produced on large plantations. Indonesia, India, Vietnam and Brazil are the largest producing countries. The production of pepper in China increases gradually. Production and trade are very regionally concentrated and therefore of major importance to some regions within producing countries

Problems

The international price of pepper is one of the most volatile among commodities. Any increase of the pepper prices will influence the farmers. Constant shifts in the price of the commodity pressures fragile rural economies. The lower income earned by farmers from producing pepper tends to reduce environmental standards, affect health and education. This is specially the case in regions such as Kerala in India. Pesticide usage is also a problem. In conventional pepper production in Sri Lanka, India and elsewhere, Methyl Bromide is used to fumigate the soil. This pesticide is known to attack human central nervous system, cause damage to lungs, kidneys and is linked to testicular cancer. Methyl Bromide does all this to humans while damaging the environment by disrupting the ozone layer.

Major Chain Issues

In the pepper sector, Fairfood International has identified the following major chain issues:

Major chain Production stage
Insufficient Income and Income insecurity Production
Lack of Access to Financial Services Production
Unhealthy and Unsafe Working Conditions Production
Harmful Agricultural or Aquafarming Practices Production

Solutions

The guide below shows certification schemes whose standards indicate a match with some or all of Fairfood’s researched major issues for this commodity. To learn more about the schemes, click on their logo.


Fairtrade
Global Gap
EU Organic Labels
Naturland

Production
Production
Production
Production
Customised sustainability initiatives
In addition to making use of standards and certification schemes, major issues in this commodity could also be addressed in a customised manner. The box below outlines a few examples of initiatives that deal with sustainability issues in this particular sector. Companies could join some of the platforms or roundtables mentioned below. These could serve as a stepping stone to increased sustainability. Other initiatives, in the form of corporate programmes and chain partnerships, could serve as inspiration for replication by other companies within the sector. To learn more about any of the initiatives, click on their logo. 

Chain Partnership
 Tanzanian organic spices producer, Golden Food Products Limited (GFP), have been exporting organic spices and herbs in cooperation with Organic Food Ingredients and Cordaid since 2006. The partnership offers extension services and training on how to increase productivity and improve the quality of the products with the aim of contributing to the fight against poverty and promoting organic farming practices. With support from Cordaid, GFP has access to more working capital and support to facilitate farmers training, while the organic spices producers receive a premium for their efforts. Furthermore, the partners promote gender equality. Priority issues are addressed and verified by this initiative.