Vanilla Is The 2nd Most Expensive Spice. So Why Do Madagascar's Farmers Live In Poverty?

28/09/2026 · Business Insider

Descrição

Vanilla is one of the world's most expensive spices because it's so labor-intensive to grow. Madagascar is responsible for 80% of the world's supply. And there, each vanilla orchid blooms for just one day a year. Farmers have to hand-pollinate each flower because the plant isn't native to the island. In recent years, the tough work has paid off, as vanilla prices soared to $600 per kilo in 2018.

But why, if vanilla outpriced silver, are Madagascar farmers still in poverty? Farmers face fluctuating prices, unfair cuts of profits, and vanilla thieves stealing their crops. We head to Madagascar to see how farmers are trying to protect their "green gold."

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Vanilla Is The 2nd Most Expensive Spice. So Why Do Madagascar's Farmers Live In Poverty? | Big Business | Business Insider

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Tags: Business Insider · Business News · vanilla · expensive · spice · madagascar · farmer · farmers

Comentários da comunidade

@Haya12234 YouTube · 11/12/2022 · 👍 6965

If something is expensive, but farmers are poor, the traders are criminals

@RAYDEEY17 YouTube · 11/12/2022 · 👍 4016

It’s the same in Ghana, cocoa is a billion dollar industry yet cocoa farmers are poor.

@RGisOutOfOffice YouTube · 03/01/2023 · 👍 1498

It's ironic that farmers who put the most effort in a crop earns just a tiny fraction of the value of the final product. Respect to all farmers around the world.

@junkymirnel6562 YouTube · 10/01/2023 · 👍 84

Props to the person who did the subtitles. I'm Malagasy and it's accurate. Mahay ianao fa tohizo hatrany.

@bozidartrajkovski3655 YouTube · 07/01/2026 · 👍 60

bro worked his ass off for 17$. God damn life can be hard.

@7am-confessions YouTube · 11/12/2022 · 👍 2308

Respect to all the farmers across the world. The good ones have a relationship with the planet that others don't understand.

@merkridge8780 YouTube · 11/12/2022 · 👍 1721

Vanilla farmers need to form their own coop and process their own beans. This is the secret this video didn’t bother to cover. Stored correctly, processed vanilla beans can last 30 years! If the market price is not to their liking, they can hold onto it and wait for a better season. In Tonga, Vanilla beans are actual currency. They are stored in bank vaults for years on end. On the off season from vanilla, Madagascar farmers need to grow coffee and process it themselves with the same Coop. The late Tom Kadooka from Hawaii was the worlds’ leading expert on Vanilla. He began propagating vanilla back in 1941. For well over 60 years Tom tried to get Kona coffee farmers to grow vanilla on their off season. Kona coffee farmers resisted due to the detailed work that went into propagating Vanilla. Vanilla is second to Saffron. 4 acres of coffee produces the same yield as a quarter acre of Vanilla. Any other domestic produce would require hundreds of acres, equipment and tons of manpower to match the yield of both vanilla and coffee.

@Centermass762 YouTube · 18/12/2022 · 👍 694

I love these types of educational videos that remind me that something I couldn't care less about is someone else's whole world.

@ingriddouglas408 YouTube · 11/02/2023 · 👍 240

My father was a farmer in Grenada 🇬🇩, this vanilla bean documentary reminds me of my father’s days as a farmer, the crops were nutmeg and cocoa, they were always underpaid. While companies in America and Europe profited, with them not knowing anything about farming any kind of crops.