Handbook of Vanilla Science and Technology

In October 2007, farmers received their vanilla vines. ForesTrade in Coban, Guatemala, donated 282 cuttings of V. planifolia to this project and these were distributed to the farmers (Figure 4.1). By the time these vines arrived, 1 original member of the 11-member selected vanilla farmer group was employed off his farm, and no longer wished to be involved. Also, more people had heard about the project and were interested in vanilla cultivation by then. The 282 vines were distributed among 32 farmers; the most any farmer received was 26, and several farmers received only 1 vine.

Fig. 4.1 Michaelyn Bachuber of ForesTrade, Guatemala prepares vines for donation to MMRF vanilla project.

4.1.5 The Belize Organic Vanilla Association

In December 2007, at a meeting held in Barranco Village for the 11-member selected farmer group, the Toledo District Agriculture Officer, Mr Barry Palacio, was invited to speak. He addressed the issue of markets and marketing, an issue with which the Toledo District has always had difficulty, due to its small size and distance from domestic markets and ports. It was his advice that the farmers form an association as a vehicle from which to work together to access internal and external markets, lobby government, apply for grants, and as a self-regulatory mechanism for product quality. After thorough discussion with Mr Palacio and among themselves, the farmers unanimously agreed that forming a production-based organization was in their best interest and initiated an election. The 7 persons elected to serve as the founding members and on the board are as follows: Eugenio Ah - chairperson; Egbert Valencio - vice chairperson; Dawn Dean - secretary/treasurer; and as councilors Tereso Sho, Ophelia Chee Sanchez, Irma González, and Constance Ramclam. The association was registered the following week, in the capital of Belmopan, as the Organic Vanilla Association, OVA.

4.1.6 OVA description and goals

From the beginning, OVA has been a farmer-based organization, unified around the goal of producing vanilla for an economic return, but always aware of the potential environmental ramifications of their venture, particularly as relates to organic production and sourcing of wild vines. Regular meetings are held, wherein OVA members tour one another’s farms. The organization’s bylaws are not ratified to date, but include membership criteria pertaining to environmental issues:

OVA’s mission statement: OVA is a farmer organization whose goal is to produce organic vanilla. We will use research and education to help us promote vanilla and the vanilla industry. We will be socially just. We will encourage community involvement in OVA and vanilla cultivation. We will cultivate vanilla and grow our organization in a way that safeguards ecological resources, while addressing the economic needs of Southern Belize.

Market analysis, conducted largely by Nelle Gretzinger, has from the beginning shown that successful entry into the vanilla market could only come about by specialization and innovation. Unique approaches to value-adding are being investigated, as well as indirect methods of marketing Belizean vanilla, such as eco-tourism and gastro-tourism. Organic cultivation has been tirelessly promoted, as has a healthy respect for the wild vanillas found in Belize. The members of OVA have positioned themselves as the guardians of this resource, which is invaluable both to the scientific community and the nascent vanilla industry in Belize.

4.1.7 Innovative vanilla plantation establishment method pioneered by OVA members Nicasio and Ophelia Chee Sanchez

One of the obstacles to introducing any perennial crop is that the farmer must make a significant investment over several years to establish and care for plants that are not yet productive and hence offer no financial return. OVA members Nicasio and Ophelia Sanchez have pioneered a new technique for establishing vanilla that addresses this problem; they intercrop the vanilla in a cornfield for the first few years. This method is broadly applicable, as corn is a staple food throughout Central America.