Spices

Climate zone: Tropical – Dry – Temperate – Continental – Polar 

The term spices comprises a wide range of plant-based ingredients primarily used for human consumption with the purpose of flavoring, coloring, or preserving food. reNature is currently active in growing pepper in agroforestry systems in Indonesia. You can find out more about it below.

Pepper – not to be confused with the vegetable of the same name – is most famous for its use as a spice. The plant is a vine with beautiful heart-shaped leaves, it grows on support from hanging aerial roots and produces small spike-like white flowers in summer before setting fruits. The pepper vine loves dappled shade, like a spot that receives daylong filtered sunlight.

The peppercorns are won from its fruit which is then sun-dried before ripeness (green pepper), cooked and sun-dried before ripeness (black pepper), or processed when ripe (white pepper). However, its production is currently linked to numerous problems such as land degradation and the impacts of climate change. Further, farmers are exposed to high price fluctuations, poor production, and an ill-developed market. reNature is utilizing agroforestry to stabilize production, increase viability, and improve the ecological value of pepper farms.