Hi all,
Here below are two articles both extracted from the New Vision
newspaper. The first is a story of hope, one that would have made the reader
want to invest in vanilla growing. The second is one of despair.
Whereas it is true that the world prices of vanilla are falling
because of the competetion from "artificial" vanilla, it is obvious that the
state in which our vanilla is sold, the famers can't benefit as much as they
are supposed to.
To the best of my knowledge, vanilla from Uganda is exported as
cured vanilla pods. The pods are simply left the undergo basic fermentation,
then dried and exported in that form. The buyers of the pods then go ahead
to extract the the active compound vanillin and sell it back to Ugandans at
about 10 times the price at which the pods were bought.
Does anybody out there know if there is any further processing
to add value to vanilla in Uganda? I do believe that it is possible to do
the extraction and futher fermentation to convert vanillin glucoside, the
state in which "vanilla" occurs naturally, to vanillin. The Technology is
simple and available.
Vanilla Is Uganda's Green Gold
To the 30 prospective vanilla growers who had traveled hundreds of
miles to hear him speak, Hajji Yunus Lubwama's words seemed harsh. The
semicircle of men and women shifted nervously and uncomfortably when Hajji
Yunus departed from the basic lessons of vanilla farming to offer his common
sense warnings.
"Do not think it is easy," he said. "It is not for the lazy. The
prices will not remain strong forever. Many will not see the success that we
have here."
The export of Ugandan vanilla increased from $8,000 and 0.2 tons
in 1995 to nearly $25 million and 132 tons in 2003-thanks, in part, to USAID
training and assistance.
Indeed, success was a lesson in hard work and patience for his
family, multiplied by tremendous market prices. Hajjati Haawa Lubwama, Hajji
Yunus' wife of 22 years, says that beginning in 1992, after years
Photo: DGL Felo
Hajjati Haawa Lubwama cares for her vanilla vines near Mukono in
Uganda.
of subsistence farming with maize, potatoes and bananas, the family
decided to take a chance on the lucrative but highly volatile cash crop
known to many as "green gold." Vanilla was known in Uganda to be a
hit-or-miss crop-unfortunate considering Uganda is the only country that
boasts two dry seasons strong enough to support two vanilla harvests.
But vanilla may yet become an extremely effective tool to attack rural
poverty, since vines must be pollinated by hand, a time-consuming process
that favors small-scale growers over large commercial farms. USAID
agricultural assistants fanned out across the country to conduct field
demonstrations, which is where Hajji Yunus and his family learned of vanilla
's potential.
Hajjati Haawa dug into the earth around a shade tree and planted a
vine in the soil, buried it with an organic mixture of mulch, soil and cow
dung and trained the vine around the tree's branches. Fifty demonstration
sites like her family's have have been established over the last eight years
in 18 of Uganda's districts. The estimated number of vanilla producers in
select areas has also jumped, from 4,000 in 1995 to 15,000 in 2003.
To further boost vanilla's viability, USAID provided market
information for producers via radio, helped producers find processors,
helped processors find investors and facilitated local financing for
exporters. Previously, there were only two active companies that bought and
processed vanilla in Uganda. Now there are ten in the Uganda National
Vanilla Association network, which meets regularly to set harvesting dates
and quality parameters.
To help increase the quality in post-harvest and post-production of
vanilla, USAID and the association contracted a local laboratory to analyze
the vanilla before it is shipped. In addition, a new association, VANEX, has
been established that is dedicated to the long-term growth of the vanilla
industry, offering such outreach as security awareness programs to help
prevent theft.
Hajjati Haawa's family now earns more than $23 a pound for their
vanilla and they have bought a new home-proof of vanilla's potential. Now
thousands more Ugandans have the same opportunity.
Vanilla's not so sweet fortunes
NO MORE GLITTERS: A vanilla garden in Bumate village during the good
old days. The crop farmers have now lost steam
By Macrines Nyapendi
Vanilla, the confectioners' favourite ingredient, has had a rough ride
in recent years with the price rising steeply as a result of tropical storms
and political turmoil in leading producer Madagascar.
The growing use of synthetic vanillas has pushed demand down for
natural varieties and will see prices sliding in the medium-term, analysts
say.
The first of Uganda's first vanilla seasons wound down in January.
When Cyclone Hudah struck the island of Madagascar in April 2000,
destroying 15% of the world's vanilla crop, the news sent vanilla prices
skyrocketing. World prices rose from $50 per kilo in 2001 to $500 per
kilogramme in 2003. But in 2004, the prices slumped to $120 per kilo on the
international market.
Uganda's vanilla exports fell to 115 metric tonnes in 2004, down from
119 metric tonnes in 2003.
Further impetus to vanilla prices was found in the US-based Coca-Cola
announcement that it would launch a vanilla Coke brand. Coca-Cola was
expected to consume at least 10% of the world's vanilla production.
In Uganda, the quantum leap in prices was most felt in Mukono
district, the epicentre of Uganda's vanilla production, where living
standards rose dramatically two years ago.
But a recovery in the Madagascar crop has seen a correction to
pre-2003 prices.
Farmgate prices have settled at about sh5,000 a kilo from as high as
sh100,000 a kilo, two years ago.
Farmers sell green vanilla beans to processors who cure and dry them
to 24% to 28% moisture content over a three-month period.
The ratio of green to processed bean is about six to one. This year,
the farmers received $5 to $10 per kilo, depending on quality.
Vanilla, just like any other spice, is a viable business for
smallholder farmers because in the spice market, quality and origin
determine the price. The vanilla industry is relatively young.
Before 1996, annual exports of cured vanilla beans were generally well
under five metric tonnes.
In 1912, Uganda's first vanilla farm was established in Salaama,
Mukono district. And in the 1970s, Salaama estates won a gold medal for
exhibiting organic with the highest vanillin content. Vanilla exports
stopped soon after former president Idd Amin Dada expelled Asians.
Vanilla is primarily grown by small groups of farmers in the districts
of Mukono, Iganga, Jinja, Mbale, Kabarole, Bundibugyo, Masaka, Kasese and
Mpigi.
The USAID-funded Agriculture Productivity Enhancement Project provides
technical assistance and market information to the farmers.
Vanilla has proved to be an excellent supplemental source of income
for the poor farmers in Uganda. Because there are two annual dry seasons in
Uganda's growing regions, two harvests are possible per year.
Flowering and pollination for the major season occurs in September and
October, with harvesting in June and July, the following year.
Flowering and pollination for the minor season occurs in May and June,
with harvesting in January and February, the following year.
The vanilla industry in Uganda currently employs over 100,000 people.
The record price of vanilla did not actually bring such good news for
vanilla growing countries.
The high prices tempted people to harvest immature vanilla, hence
putting their reputation at stake.
But consuming industry in a case of once bitten twice shy, are looking
to alternate sources for supplies.
The Vanilla boom pushed the demand for synthetic vanilla up, and some
of the advantages in this shift were immediate.
One ounce of artificially-produced vanillin has roughly the same
flavouring power as a gallon of natural vanilla extract.
In addition, synthetic vanillin costs one-hundredth of the price of
the natural product and not only substitutes for vanilla but also
supplements adulterated vanilla extracts.
Sales of imitation vanilla extract jumped to 4% when the price of a
two- ounce bottle of McCormick pure vanilla extract surged from $7 to $15,
while an eight-ounce bottle of the company's imitation vanilla flavour went
for only $1.80.
The worldwide demand for natural vanilla has dropped by 35% over the
last two years.
Imitation vanilla tastes less rich and textured than pure vanilla
extract, but both products' essential ingredients are virtually the same.
"A teaspoon of vanilla is an essential ingredient in hundreds of
recipes, from cookies and cakes to ice cream and cream soda.
Americans have been cooking with the spice for centuries. For many
consumers, a tiny bottle of vanilla extract is as common to their kitchen as
bread and butter," said one importer.
According to statistics, total global demand for the spice is about
2000 to 3000 metric tonnes a year with the world market for vanilla beans
highly concentrated in a few developed countries.
The United States, France and Germany account for 80% of world
imports, the US consumes 50 to 60 per cent, and France and Germany between
10 to 15% each. These three countries are also major re-exporters of both
vanilla beans and processed vanilla products.
Published on: Thursday, 3rd March, 2005
----- Original Message -----
From: "d b" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Friday, April 01, 2005 3:21 PM
Subject: [Ugnet] Africa look to science to solve its problems
http://www.nationmedia.com/eastafrican/current/Regional/Regional1.html
By the way what is civil engineering about in Uganda - flower can grow in
stones!
Africa should look to science to
solve its problems - Icipe boss
By JOHN MBARIA
Special Correspondent
It was one of those newspaper reports that readers either ignore or give
only a casual glance.
On June 17, 2003, Danson Mungatana, one of the youngest members of Kenya\'s
current parliament - probably because of the glut of mangoes that seasonally
occurs in his Garsen constituency - asked the government to put up a
fruit-processing factory there.
The media reported Mungatana\'s appeal and one man, Dr Hans Herren, the
outgoing director general of the International Centre for Insect Physiology
& Ecology (Icipe), wrote to Mungatana and set up an appointment for two days
later.
Bwanika
________
http://www.idrconsulting.com
--> for your consultancy needs
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