Govt declares January 5 as start of vanilla harvesting season
Minister of State for Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries Fred Bwino has set January 5 to April 5, 2024 as vanilla harvest season B.
The vanilla harvest date is a date when vanilla farmers start harvesting their crop in a given season.
According to Bwino, Uganda adapted the declaration of the beginning of the vanilla harvest date since 2019 as of the proven best practices in curbing the vanilla challenges.
“It is now five years since my Ministry spearheaded this initiative,” he said.
Global production stands at 6,843 tons (FAOST, 2022) with Madagascar being the leading producer (78%, Uganda (9%), Papua New Guinea (7%), Indonesia (3%), Mexico (2%), India (1%).
Global demand ranges between 2,200MT – 3,000MT per annum with Uganda’s market share ranging from 150MT – 300MT (5% – 15%) of the global supply with a high possibility of expansion.
Bwino also revealed that the global vanilla market size is projected to reach USD 4,701.91 million by 2030, growing at a Compounded Aggregate Growth Rate (CAGR) of 5.7% during the forecast period (2022–2030).
“In 2021, Uganda exported 189.180 tons of cured vanilla valued at US$ 21.55 million (BoU, 2023) placing her in the 2nd position in Africa,” he said.
“However, under the current market conditions, Uganda is still able to generate annual foreign revenue of between 12 million USD to 18 million USD from the export of cured vanilla,” Bwino added.
He highlighted that there are approximately 65,000 smallholder farmers engaged in vanilla growing in 38 districts across the country.
“I am informed that a vanilla plant takes 3 years to the first harvest and it requires an initial capital of 8 million to establish one acre of a coffee–vanilla intercrop and more than two million for garden maintenance and pollination during the second year.”
He said a farmer spends approximately 10 million before the first harvest. On the first harvest, a farmer harvests 3kg of beans per plant, from the 450 in an acre an estimate of 1,350kg can be harvested in the first year.
“I am informed that from a well-established vanilla garden under good management, each vine yields approximately 5kg”
Bwino added, “And if we do the kibaro, a farmer will earn an average of UGX 22,500,000 annually at the lowest price of UGX 5,000/Kg and UGX 90,000,000 annually from the highest price of 20,000/Kg respectively as for last season A 2023.”
The prices of vanilla, Bwino said are so volatile and depend on the dynamics of supply and demand in the global market.
“Madagascar alone produces 78% of the World’s supply and if Madagascar supplies much to the global market, the prices usually fall .Currently Uganda produces between 250MT-300MT cured vanilla beans annually bringing a foreign revenue of about $ 12 million per year under the current market conditions,”
Uganda’s vanilla main export destinations include the USA, Canada, and EU countries.
These markets are extremely quality-sensitive and have explicit market specifications. Hence, meeting the market specifications demands efforts from all stakeholders.
