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On a small plot, 10 kilometers outside a dusty provincial town in southern Cambodia, farmer Nuon Yan tends his crop.

Like most farmers in Cambodia, Nuon Yan grows rice. But today he is tending his other crop: Kampot pepper. The final product — spicy black peppercorns that pep up dishes across the world — will soon become the first Cambodian produce to benefit from Geographical Indicator status.

GI is more familiar as a concept than a phrase, and most famously with champagne: Only sparkling wine grown in a certain region of France which conforms to the quality standard set by its members may be called champagne. The advantage for growers is a better price; consumers benefit knowing that they are getting a quality product.

Cambodia’s farmers are a key pillar of the country’s economy, and widespread rural poverty means better prices for their crops would provide a huge boost for both them and the national economy. UN figures show agriculture employs more than half of the eight-million-strong labor force and generates one-third of the kingdom’s gross domestic product.

Kampot pepper, which is named after Nuon Yan’s home province, has an excellent name regionally and is highly regarded by some chefs in Europe. But a good name is not enough: in a world of imitations, protecting that name is critical.

Var Roth San, director of the intellectual property department at Cambodia’s Ministry of Commerce, says attaining GI status typically boosts the value of a product by at least 20 percent.

“We want to create jobs and we want the poor to get more money from their jobs in the rural areas,” he said. “GI is something that will help the poor.”

Nuon Yan has joined the newly formed Kampot Pepper Producers’ Association, which will market and promote his crop. It is a cooperative of more than 100 farmers, along with a handful of middlemen, that will ensure the Kampot pepper its members grow comes only from certain areas and meets quality standards. By early 2010, only the pepper produced by its members will be able to use the name.

Jean-Marie Brun, an adviser at the French agricultural nongovernmental organization GRET, said members of the World Trade Organization were obliged to protect GI-status products. Once a product earns the name and is registered, it can easily be protected.

GRET was involved in the establishment of the cooperative, whose members defined the geographical growing area and quality standards.

“The stakeholders decided on the delimitation of the area, how it should be produced and the quality criteria for Kampot pepper,” Brun said.

Kampot pepper is not the only Cambodian product in the running. Others vying for GI status include regionally produced palm sugar, honey, silk and possibly even durian fruit.

Brun says the main benefit for the small-scale farmers who comprise the bulk of the cooperative is financial. The current gate price for black pepper is $2.5 per kilogram, but that should double once the GI status is confirmed.

By the time Kampot pepper gets to Europe, where it will be sold in packets of 20 to 50 grams, it can retail at an equivalent of 100 euros ($146) per kilogram.

“Importers of Kampot pepper in Europe know it has a name and they are willing to pay a higher price for that,” Brun explained. The extra profit will allow for increased marketing expenditure. Protection of the brand rests initially with the association

The vice president of the association, En Trou, is a farmer with 150 pepper vines, each providing one kilogram of peppercorns per year. En Trou said the total output of the members this year would be 14 tons, but he predicted that would double over the next five years.

En Trou said members had in the past encountered difficulties trying to sell their crops for a decent price, but was optimistic that GI status for Kampot pepper would help.

Four kilometers from the association’s office, along a series of ever-narrowing dirt tracks, Nuon Yan keeps an eye on his 300 pepper vines. He earned $400 from his crop last year, but aims to double that next year. So what will he do with the extra cash?

“I will put some in the bank and I will use the rest to buy more pepper vines,” he said.

The vines take three years to mature, so it is no short-term measure. But for Nuon Yan the benefits from ensuring his pepper meets the GI requirements make it worthwhile to invest more time and money on growing Kampot pepper for the kitchens of Europe.



Deutsche Presse-Agentur