Social Vanilla works to change the vanilla industry for the better and ensure that the people that grow and work with vanilla earn their fair share. We aim to empower the farmers and make sure that the vanilla business work for them and not just the other way around. Social Vanilla offer the farmers capacity-building resources, fair trade deals, and we advocate on their behalf.
Also, we are working on a business model where the farmers can tap into the unique growing conditions of vanilla. To produce vanilla, the vanilla plant needs support threes to hang on, which makes vanilla production ideal for inter-cropping methods with other cash crops. The potential and impact of the intercropping method offer the farmers an opportunity to diversify their income. At the same time, it has a positive impact on the environment by increasing local biodiversity.
Vanilla is one of the worlds most popular spices; the demand is higher than the global production, and vanilla is raking high on its international market price. There is, therefore, a great business opportunity for vanilla farmers in countries like Uganda, Tanzania and Madagascar. However, today many of these farmers are not getting their fair share of the value chain. The farmers struggle with a lack of access to relevant knowledge and resources combined with vanilla theft, exploitative middlemen and buyers that among others offer unfair trade deals. This keeps many of these vanilla farmers locked in poverty cycles despite their crops high value.
Our business will have a direct positive social- and financial impact on the farmers we cooperate with and the local people we will create jobs for. We also want to inspire other actors in the vanilla sector to adopt more socially- and environmentally sustainable business practices in the vanilla sector. With our promotion of more environmentally sustainable and climate-smart farming practices, we will also do ours to protect our planet for the next generation.