Vanilla industry agrees on farmer livelihood improvements

Last week in Paris there was an exciting event on Vanilla with 80% of the industry and 11 representatives from Madagascar. The participants agreed to sign a cooperation agreement for the coming 3 years to work on professionalization of the sector, farmer income improvements, quality and market stability. 

‘Farmer incomes are a real issue in Vanilla’, says Jan Gilhuis, program manager at IDH. ‘Production is low, loan structures in Madagascar are nontransparent, prices are unstable making yields unpredictable and therefor farmers not bankable.  Working on more professional farming with higher quality and quantity of yields is a first step on the journey to revitalize the Vanilla sector. That is why we are excited that 80% of the sector present in Paris wants to sign this MoU’.