Cambodia's Famed Kampot Pepper Withers in Scorching Heatwave

"It is so hot this year, no rains, and we have no water to water the pepper plants," says farmer Chhim Laem. TANG CHHIN Sothy / AFP
"It is so hot this year, no rains, and we have no water to water the pepper plants," says farmer Chhim Laem. TANG CHHIN Sothy / AFP
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Cambodia's Famed Kampot Pepper Withers in Scorching Heatwave

"It is so hot this year, no rains, and we have no water to water the pepper plants," says farmer Chhim Laem. TANG CHHIN Sothy / AFP
"It is so hot this year, no rains, and we have no water to water the pepper plants," says farmer Chhim Laem. TANG CHHIN Sothy / AFP

Farmer Chhim Laem shakes his head as he walks between long rows of dead bushes, their brown leaves scorched by heat and drought that have devastated Cambodia's famed Kampot pepper crop.
Known for its intense floral flavor, Kampot pepper is prized by top chefs around the world and sells for up to $200 per kilo.
Nurtured for generations in two provinces in southwest Cambodia, the pepper industry survived the genocidal Khmer Rouge and decades of instability, but now faces the threat of extreme weather driven by climate change.
"It is so hot this year, no rains, and we have no water to water the pepper plants," Laem told AFP. "So they all died."
South and Southeast Asia have sweltered in recent weeks under record temperatures, with governments closing schools, people dying of heatstroke and farmers praying for rain.
Scientists warn that human-induced climate change will produce more frequent, longer and more intense heatwaves.
In parts of Cambodia, the mercury nearly hit 43 degrees Celsius (109 Fahrenheit) in late April -- after a six-month drought that pushed farmers to a breaking point.
All 264 of Laem's pepper bushes perished, the 55-year-old explained, thanks to water shortages and hot weather.
Production has grown in recent years, boosted by the European Union granting the spice a "protected geographical indication" in 2016 -- meaning that only pepper grown in a designated area can be called Kampot.
The Kampot region produced about 120 tonnes of peppercorns last year, but farmers say that excessive heat and rain have made 2024 the worst on record.
Laem earned about $1,000 from his farm last year, but said he expects a fraction of that now.
"I am so sad, but I don't know what to do," he said.
'The worst year'
Nguon Lay is a fourth-generation pepper farmer, harvesting nine tonnes from his nearby five-hectare farm last year.
But the 71-year-old farmer expected to harvest nothing this year.
"This year we meet the biggest obstacle," he said, while examining a dying pepper bush.
Torrential rain destroyed the plants' flowers earlier in the season, with more dying in the prolonged drought that followed.
"So it is the worst year. We don't know what to do. We see problems, but we can't resolve them," Lay said.
Like other farmers, Lay said he knew the problems came from the weather and the environment.
Several ponds used to water his plants have dried up, and his workers only water the crop once every five days.
"We have been prepared. We know about climate change, we have stored water, we built roofs to protect our peppers from the hot weather, but it was not enough."
"So many pepper plants are dying," he said, adding that he no longer goes to his farms because it is too painful.
"This year we think we will get nothing," he said, adding that what little can be harvested is of lower quality because of the weather.
'Fight against nature'
Kampot pepper gained global acclaim during the French colonial occupation of Cambodia when it was exported widely, but the industry was nearly wiped out during the Khmer Rouge era.
In more recent years it has bounced back, gracing hip restaurant menus across the globe.
The pepper comes in green, black, red and white varieties -- the color changes as the corn ripens, with green the youngest and white the most mature.
Lay said consumers had no idea of the difficulties facing Kampot farmers, but they will soon see the effects.
"For 2024 and 2025, we won't have abundant pepper for them to eat," he said.
"It is zero!"
Kann Sinouch, president of the Kampot Pepper Promotion Association, said he expects this year's pepper yield to be halved -- and warned of an export shortage in 2025.
He told AFP the changing weather meant farmers were unable to expand their farms, and instead were stuck struggling to keep their existing plants alive.
But Chan Deng, who has been growing pepper since the 1960s, said he would not surrender to the unpredictable weather.
"This year, it is strangely hot," Deng, 67, said.
His pepper yield plummeted from 300 kilos last year to around 10 kilos in 2024, with 20 percent of his plants dying due to the hot weather.
But Deng said he will dig more ponds to store water, hoping that in three years a good yield will return.
In the meantime, he said, "we will fight against nature".



Greece's 'Instagram Island' Santorini nears Saturation Point

Tourists queue as they wait to take a picture from one of the balconies. Aris Oikonomou / AFP
Tourists queue as they wait to take a picture from one of the balconies. Aris Oikonomou / AFP
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Greece's 'Instagram Island' Santorini nears Saturation Point

Tourists queue as they wait to take a picture from one of the balconies. Aris Oikonomou / AFP
Tourists queue as they wait to take a picture from one of the balconies. Aris Oikonomou / AFP

One of the most enduring images of Greece's summer travel brand is the world-famous sunset on Santorini Island, framed by sea-blue church domes on a jagged cliff high above a volcanic caldera.
This scene has inspired millions of fridge magnets, posters, and souvenirs -- and now the queue to reach the viewing spot in the clifftop village of Oia can take more than 20 minutes, said AFP.
Santorini is a key stopover of the Greek cruise experience. But with parts of the island nearing saturation, officials are considering restrictions.
Of the record 32.7 million people who visited Greece last year, around 3.4 million, or one in 10, went to the island of just 15,500 residents.
"We need to set limits if we don't want to sink under overtourism," Santorini mayor Nikos Zorzos told AFP.
"There must not be a single extra bed... whether in the large hotels or Airbnb rentals."
As the sun set behind the horizon in Oia, thousands raised their phones to the sky to capture the moment, followed by scattered applause.
For canny entrepreneurs, the Cycladic island's famous sunset can be a cash cow.
One company advertised more than 50 "flying dresses", which have long flowing trains, for up to 370 euros ($401), on posters around Oia for anyone who wishes to "feel like a Greek goddess" or spruce up selfies.
'Respect Oia'
But elsewhere in Oia's narrow streets, residents have put up signs urging visitors to respect their home.
"RESPECT... It's your holiday... but it's our home," read a purple sign from the Save Oia group.
Shaped by a volcanic eruption 3,600 years ago, Santorini's landscape is "unique", the mayor said, and "should not be harmed by new infrastructure".
Around a fifth of the island is currently occupied by buildings.
At the edge of the cliff, a myriad of swimming pools and jacuzzis highlight Santorini is also a pricey destination.
In 2023, 800 cruise ships brought some 1.3 million passengers, according to the Hellenic Ports Association.
Cruise ships "do a lot of harm to the island", said Chantal Metakides, a Belgian resident of Santorini for 26 years.
"When there are eight or nine ships pumping out smoke, you can see the layer of pollution in the caldera," she said.
Cruise ship limits
In June, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis floated the possibility of capping cruise ship arrivals to Greece's most popular islands.
"I think we'll do it next year," he told Bloomberg, noting that Santorini and tourist magnet Mykonos "are clearly suffering".
"There are people spending a lot of money to be on Santorini and they don’t want the island to be swamped," said the pro-business conservative leader, who was re-elected to a second four-year term last year.
In an AFP interview, Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni echoed this sentiment and said: "We must set quotas because it's impossible for an island such as Santorini... to have five cruise ships arriving at the same time."
Local officials have set a limit of 8,000 cruise boat passengers per day from next year.
But not all local operators agree.
Antonis Pagonis, head of Santorini's hoteliers association, believes better visitor flow management is part of the solution.
"It is not possible to have (on) a Monday, for example, 20 to 25,000 guests from the cruise ships, and the next day zero," he said.
Pagonis also argued that most of the congestion only affects parts of the island like the capital, Fira.
In the south of the island, the volcanic sand beaches are less crowded, even though it is high season in July.
'I'm in Türkiye
The modern tourism industry has also changed visitor behavior.
"I listened (to) people making a FaceTime call with the family, saying 'I'm in Türkiye," smiled tourist guide Kostas Sakavaras.
"They think that the church over there is a mosque because yesterday they were in Türkiye."
The veteran guide said the average tourist coming to the island has changed.
"Instagram has defined the way people choose the places to visit," he said, explaining everybody wants the perfect Instagram photo to confirm their expectations.