A look at Cameroon's unique Penja white pepper

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00:00 This three hectare white pepper plantation lies in Penja in the Mongo division of Cameroon.

00:07 Rosalie owns the land. She is one of Cameroon's oldest female white pepper farmers and still

00:16 uses traditional techniques for cultivating her crops.

00:20 The Penja white pepper is so special because it is grown on volcanic land and it is done

00:25 in a very natural way. We don't need fertilizers or pesticides.

00:30 A few kilometers away, the popular crop is harvested by around 400 members of the brand.

00:36 The seeds go through strict quality control processes after this.

00:42 Rene Claude Metomo has headed the brand since 2011. He keeps an eye on things and makes

00:49 sure customers can count on getting the real deal when they buy the plantation's white pepper.

00:56 If you're looking for a Penja pepper, there is only one criteria. If you go to a supermarket,

01:01 the packs are stamped IGP, Penja white pepper. It's an official stamp. This means that on

01:06 that stamp there's a number which can enable us to trace the origin of the product.

01:11 400 tons of white pepper are produced each year between November and April, with 40%

01:18 of that reserved for exportation. It can be tough to keep hold of Penja white pepper's

01:24 market share. Its producers lose income as sellers in local markets often try to pass

01:31 off other types of pepper as being from Penja.

01:35 In a bid to regulate the sector, the African Intellectual Property Organization set up

01:40 an international conference on branding recently in Douala, the economic capital of Cameroon.

01:47 Amongst the member states, we have a certain number of products with a geographical label,

01:53 and we have noticed that on the markets, these products sell twice or three times more than

01:58 the products with no label. It creates added value.

02:04 Penja white pepper was the first product from sub-Saharan Africa to get a designation of

02:09 origin and quality awarded by the European Union in 2013.

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