A little bit of spicy chili peppers is all African farmers need to keep hungry elephants from stealing crops.
By planting a few rows of chili peppers around the perimeter of their crops, farmers have created a buffer zone that's spicy enough to keep elephants, buffalo, and other hungry mammals away.
"Chili peppers are unpalatable to crop-raiding mammals, so they give farmers an economically feasible means of minimizing damage to their investments," said Loki Osborn, project director for the Elephant Pepper Development Trust.
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Farmers also can mix the chili peppers into a spray that drives animals away.
Chili peppers have been used to keep elephants away since 1997 because they were a cheap alternative to building expensive electric fences. And as a bonus, the peppers have turned into a valuable cash crop themselves.
"They can be grown as buffer crops to prevent crop-raiding and then be harvested and sold on the world market through the trust," Osborn said.
The trust formed two companies – the African Spices Company in Zambia and the Chili Pepper Company in Zimbabwe – to produce and distribute bottled hot sauces, jams, and relishes made from the peppers.
Proceeds from these spicy condiments are donated trust to support the development of chili growing projects.
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