Ssempijja warns against poor quality vanilla on market

The Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Vincent SSsempijja, has warned vanilla dealers against putting poor quality products on the market.

SSsempijja's warning follows the recent reports about the theft and early sale of premature vanilla on Uganda's market.

According to Ssempijja, Uganda is the second largest producer of natural vanilla after Madagascar.

However, the continued theft and early sale of the crop is harmful both to Uganda and the international reputation as a key player in the vanilla industry and to its farmers.

"For vanilla to achieve the flavour preferred by the buyers on the international market, it should be harvested only when mature," he said.

He observed that in difficult economic times like these, where supply meets and even exceeds demand, it is expected that international buyers will place more stringent quality requirements on supplies.

"If premature selling and buying of vanilla continues, there is a chance that international buyers may turn their backs on Uganda's vanilla," he said.

Ssempijja called upon the relevant authorities to increase their vigilance regarding cases of vanilla theft or early sale of vanilla to actively hunt down the culprits so they can be prosecuted. 

He said his office had partnered with relevant authorities, like the Judiciary, local council leaders and the Police to make sure that the culprits are dealt with decisively.

"The Government is increasing penalties for the theft and premature sale of vanilla and is in the process of passing tougher measures to prosecute anyone who is involved in stealing vanilla before it is mature," he said.

Ssempijja was speaking to journalists during a meeting with the Catholic Relief Services officials at Entebbe, in Wakiso district.

Vanilla is the world's second most expensive spice and earns about $5.5m against the required $40m-$50m required by 2024.

Uganda exports 100 tonnes of vanilla, whereas Madagascar, which is the world's number one producer exports over 1,000 metric tonnes of the spice every season.

Indonesia, the second largest producer in the world, exports about 600750 tonnes.

The popularity of vanilla farming in Uganda resulted from the declining coffee prices on the world market, with thousands of the peasant farmers abandoning coffee growing in favour of vanilla.

Among the major buyers of vanilla are the US, France and Germany Sekabira Bida, a vanilla farmer from Mukono, said growing vanilla had changed his life tremendously.

However, when the thieves struck, he was always speechless.

"I tried hiring a security guard for my garden, but I was still disappointed because, at night, they would steal from parts of my garden where the guard could not keep watch. Time came when the thieves attacked with guns. I then began to consider it a very risky business," Bida said.

"Currently, I only grow vanilla on a small scale because growing on a large scale almost took my life," he said.