Feature - Downside to rising vanilla prices

While the price of vanilla in Madagascar has reached an all time high - about 10 times what it was a decade ago - the financial windfall has a downside, with farmers reporting an increased number of robberies, assaults and murders in the region where the valuable commodity is grown. The Indian Ocean island exports an average of 1,000 mt a year of natural or 'pure' vanilla, representing about half the world market. The product is vital to the country's struggling economy and accounts for over 10 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP). Madagascar's 'vanilla coast' stretches along the lush northeastern edge of the island from the towns of Sambava and Antalaha to Maroantsetra in the Bay of Antongil, where the heat and humidity make this region perfect for growing vanilla. This stretch of coastline is also often buffeted by strong winds and cyclones, and three years ago more than 20 percent of Madagascar's vanilla crop was completely destroyed by Cyclone Hudah. Consequently there has been a shortage of supply this year and a subsequent escalation in price. While in 2000 vanilla was sold for US $50 a kilogram, by last year it had tripled to US $150, and now stands at US $200 a kilogram. But the good prices have come at a high cost in human terms. In July three members of the same family were killed in a raid in the vanilla-growing town of Antalaha. Hery Rabevazaha, a consultant agronomist at the largest vanilla plant in the town, told IRIN: "The authorities are not doing enough about the security situation. It has become very difficult to control, and the stakes have become very high. The robbers will do anything they can to kill you, because they know that if they are caught, they too will probably be killed. We used to grow vanilla in the countryside, but now we have moved the plantation to the centre of town so we can guard it more easily. We are really afraid." Further down the coast in Maroantsetra, where the Miniminy family has been in the vanilla trade for generations, Solange Miniminy confirmed reports that, as the price has gone up, so too has crime. "At the moment there is a lot of vandalism, assassinations and corruption," she said. "This year is far worse than any other. Farmers are up against a lot of problems because thieves steal the vanilla from the fields. The authorities imposed a curfew in the town to try to prevent robberies and attacks, but they have not really been able to put a stop to it. The police cells and the court houses cannot cope. "The vanilla collectors have become very rich. They have never known anything like it. Some of them are buying vanilla before it is really ready, and they do their best to prevent others from selling it," Miniminy added. Tim Ecott, a British writer researching a book about vanilla, remarked on the deepening divide between rich and poor people in the region. "One of the interesting things about the high price that vanilla is commanding at the moment, is the fact that if you take that high price and combine that with the extreme poverty of the country, you will find that the vanilla collectors are travelling around in the bush with a rucksack full of cash. So you might find that a collector has enough cash on his back to keep a Malagasy family for two or three years. "In several of the towns that I've visited there are a lot of people who have suddenly been able to afford a fridge or a television. There was a big run on mountain bikes this year, and in one town everyone was riding them because they thought it was the best way to spend their money," he told IRIN. Ecott believes the new-found wealth and the envy it could arouse may be behind the escalating crime in the region. The vanilla industry in Madagascar currently employs about 70,000 people. While this figure may not be impressive, Ecott points to the decline of other industries in Madagascar following the 2002 political crisis that crippled local industry. "At the moment, because the Malagasy economy is in such a poor general state following the political crisis, it is accounting for between 10 and 15 percent of GDP. Normally it is between four and seven percent," Ecott said. The record price of vanilla may not actually be such good news for Madagascar's economy in the long term. There are concerns that because growers and collectors want to benefit from this peak in the market, some traders may attempt to sell sub-standard vanilla, causing damage to Madagascar's reputation as the producer of the finest natural vanilla in the world. The higher the price of natural vanilla, the greater the temptation for large-scale manufacturers to purchase artificial vanilla instead. There are already signs that this year will produce a good harvest. If that is so, supply will increase and prices will probably be lower. As this year's boom could turn into next year's bust, Madagascar's vanilla farmers know their fortunes will fluctuate.