Voatsiperifery wild pepper, which only grows in Madagascar, is recognized as one of the most expensive spices in the global market and is currently facing serious environmental challenges. The natural forests of this island have decreased by 27% between 1990 and 2025, and this decline has become a serious threat to this particular type of pepper.
Harvesting and Production Challenges
Voatsiperifery pepper, known for its aromatic and unique flavor, grows on trees and forest vines. Harvesters sometimes have to pull down the vines and supporting trees to access the pepper berries, which leads to further forest destruction.
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French chemist Olivier Rollinger, who first encountered this spice 30 years ago, says: "This pepper amazed me from the very beginning. Its flavor is unique and carries specific notes of earth, resin, and even citrus." This pepper is sold in the French market, its largest export market, for 150 to 200 euros (169 to 225 dollars) per kilogram.
Deforestation and the Need for Monitoring
In the village of Ambongamarina, located northeast of Antananarivo, farmers report that the surrounding forests were still covered with natural trees until 2010-2012. However, these forests have now been destroyed due to vegetation fires, charcoal production, and slash-and-burn agriculture. One farmer named Hirinaïna Randrianarimanga says: "To find pepper in the forest, we have to walk almost a full day."
Mama Chatno, one of the founders of the export company Jacarandas, emphasizes that there is no national system for monitoring the harvesting and export of this pepper and calls for the establishment of a system to track natural resources. She says: "Today, we do not know whether this resource is declining or not."
In the Mandraka forests, located 60 kilometers east of Antananarivo, Olivier Ramahérison, a Franco-Malagasy entrepreneur, has planted between 500 and 1000 vines after multiple tests. He says: "If we can produce hundreds of tons of wild pepper like the black pepper farms in Vietnam or Brazil, it would be a real economic advantage for the country."
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