Madagascar stands unique as an island in the Indian Ocean. Home to some of the world’s most unique flora and fauna, Madagascar is rich in more than 12,000 plant species, most of which are endemic to the island. Orchid species are among those endemics, and we can count more than 1,000 different species in Madagascar.

Belonging to orchid species, vanilla is a plant that can be found anywhere in the world but is today grown in abundance in some regions of Madagascar. The vanilla plant is a member of the orchid family. It is made up of around 110 different species of orchid and originated from South and Central America and the Caribbean. However, since the plant has been successfully introduced to and grown in the island over a century, Madagascar became one of the world’s largest producers and exporters of vanilla, besides Indonesia.

Vanilla is commonly known for its fragrant and flavor spice that makes it highly appreciated. In addition, it has been labeled the second most expensive spice in the world, after saffron, due to its labor-intensive production. There are more than 30,000 hectares of vanilla plantations dispersed in different regions of Madagascar. The SAVA region in the north-eastern part of Madagascar is the known global centre of vanilla production. Around 70,000 farmers are estimated to produce 70 to 80 percent of all global bourbon vanilla, also called vanilla planifolia – one of the seven different vanilla plants that are mostly cultivated in the region (Hanke Hendrik, et al., 2018). Sambava which is among the four largest cities of the SAVA region has been appointed the “capital of vanilla”. Apart from Sambava, Antalaha, Vohémar and Andapa, there are other vanilla spots like Nosy-Be and Toamasina.

Bourbon vanilla production.

Spice vanilla or bourbon vanilla can be used and tasted in several ways. The bourbon vanilla is mostly appreciated by cooking amateurs who perfectly know that flavor is the key to any dish’s success. The name of “bourbon vanilla” does not come from Madagascar, but after the former name of La Réunion, Ile Bourbon. Although spice vanilla can be spotted everywhere, its production and growth need to meet certain conditions such as the weather. Bourbon vanilla grows in very warm and humid weather; but it also needs a significant dry season for pollination and flowering.

The most difficult part in producing bourbon vanilla is pollination. It flowers only briefly for 24 hours and pollination must occur at that time; otherwise, it wilts and dies. It is still not entirely clear how the plant gets pollinated in the wild, it is just believed that a single type of small bee is responsible for it, and some hummingbirds. Yet, since some of those natural pollinators are not native to Madagascar, most plants must be artificially pollinated by hand with a feather or a chopstick.

If pollination is successful, a fruit develops in the form of a 6-to-10-inch-long green pod (about 15-25cm) filled with thousands of minuscule black seeds. At harvest, the plants take the form of string beans which are individually picked by hand as they become ripe, and then are subjected to a prolonged and multi-step treatment process. In order to obtain the desiccated, aromatic and black gold spice vanilla, the pods have to be fermented.

After that long and complex process, the vanilla pods which contain different flavor and fragrance components are now ready to be sold and savored.

Sources: ONTM/ National Geographic / Atlas
Obscura / « Socio-economic, land use and value
chain perspectives on vanilla farming in the
SAVA Region”, Hanke Hendrik et al., 2018).