Uganda Calls Cops to Ensure Quality of Vanilla Crop

(Bloomberg) --

Authorities in Africa's second-biggest vanilla producer have enlisted police services to ensure farmers of the spice don't harvest premature pods and hurt Uganda's reputation as a top-quality grower.

The agriculture ministry directed farmers to pick the expensive pods over July only, nine months after the pollination of this year's crop. This is after officials intercepted a truck loaded with premature pods harvested only four months after pollination and before attaining the desired concentrate, according to the State Minister for Agriculture Aggrey Bagiire.

“If such vanilla is exported, no matter where it goes, it will paint a bad image about Uganda,” Bagiire said in an emailed statement. “This is unacceptable and must stop with immediate effect.”

Uganda is Africa's biggest producer after Madagascar, which is also the world's top grower. The East African nation that's also the continent's biggest coffee exporter produced about 300,000 kilograms of uncured vanilla in 2018, according to the most recent government data. Annual global vanilla consumption ranged between 2,100 and 2,400 metric tons in the past decade, according to the minister, half of which was met by Madagascar.

Prices have been astronomical in the past three years because of frequent cyclones that buffeted Madagascar, affecting global supply of the world's most expensive spice after saffron. They've also been elevated because of consumer preference for natural vanilla, whose price spike in the 2000s turned away buyers and helped synthetic flavors flourish.

Read more: Madagascar Vanilla Exporter See 50% Output Surge on Good Weather

Madagascar's rebounding production to about 1,800 tons in the coming season, and increasing output by other nations will suppress prices this year, the minister said. Coupled with an expected drop in demand because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Ugandan farmers should not be too optimistic about a good pay day and should focus on retaining quality to attract top dollar, he said.

“Uganda must of necessity, identify and emphasize strategies that guarantee high quality of vanilla that we put on the market in order to ensure a sustainable and better price for farmers,” Bagiire said.