A CHILLI RECEPTION - FINALIST
ZAMBIA

In Africa a feared pest is the elephant. Hungry elephants trample crops and homes. A determined pachyderm is not to be put off by even the sturdiest electric fence. In Eastern and southern Africa elephants are protected and their population is climbing. In Zambia, elephant numbers have risen from a low of just 7,000 in the early 1990s to around 30,000. They are now in daily conflict with farmers. The African elephant is a protected species and culling is opposed. In Zambia and Zimbabwe, the Elephant Pepper Development Trust is promoting a solution that seems too good to be true: growing chillies. The tip of an elephant's trunk is sensitive and reacts badly when it comes into contact with capsaicin - the chemical that makes chillies taste hot. In fact, chillies are to elephants what garlic is to vampires: a simple rope fence smeared with a mixture of crushed chillies and engine grease is enough to keep a hungry elephant at bay. Another successful method is to burn briquettes of dried chilli mixed with dung. These are lit at nightfall and work in the same way as a mosquito coil with the chilli-tasting smoke repelling the elephants. The drought-resistant chillies are relatively easy to grow in the savannah. When the farmers have grown enough to put an end to elephant incursions they can sell the excess for spicy sauces. Elephant Pepper has partnered with a specialist trading company - African Spices- that provides a guaranteed outlet for the chillies.