Activity Description: The Chilli Pepper Company is a for-profit enterprise that helps sustenance farmers in rural Zimbabwe to grow and market chillis. The company was created in 2000 by the Elephant Protection Development Trust (EPDT) as a way to resolve conflict between farmers in the Zambezi River valley and elephants. Both compete for resources and water, but farmers face additional hardship because they must protect their crops from being eaten or damaged at night. The farmers selected by EPDT are also among the most disadvantaged people in Zimbabwe, have little access to draught power and only grow small plots of cotton for cash. The yields for food crops such as sorghum, maize and millet are highly variable. Chilli peppers are cheap to grow, subsist in harsh environments, and act as a "buffer" crop that is unpalatable to elephants. When burned, the odor repels elephants and other mammals that damage and eat crops. Farmers then harvest the chillies, keep some of the yield, and sell most to the Chilli Pepper Company (to be sold on the world market as a variety of chilli sauces). Farmers are also free to sell chillies locally. EPDT has also introduced varieties of maize that can be harvested even in the most severe drought, as they have been bred in the valley under restricted water regimes (300mm). The pepper, which is dried, can last for two seasons if stored properly. Editor's note: This project is one of 12 finalists for the World Challenge contest.