EL CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE PRODUCTORES DE VAINILLA

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DRAWS THOUSANDS TO INAUGURAL EVENT OF INTERNATIONAL TROPICAL FARMERS NETWORK (ITFN)

It is with great pleasure to announce  that our inaugural conference of the International Tropical Farmers Network (ITFN) held May 26 - 28, 2006 at the Takilhsukut Thematic Park in Papantla, Veracruz, Mexico, exceeded all expectations of conference organizers and Mexican government officials alike with its outstanding attendance and enthusiastic response by tropical vanilla producers, trade organizations, universities, and media.

On Friday, May 26, more than 1500 vanilla growers, many of them indigenous farmers with less than two hectares of land, and some of whom speak only their traditional language, poured through the gates to participate in this historic event!  Additional farmers continued to arrive from throughout Mexico over the next two days.  Attendees also included students and faculty from many Mexican universities, representatives of Fair Trade organizations and other agricultural associations, anthropologists, businesses and local and state radio and television stations, bringing the total to well over 2000 participants.

For the first time ever, vanilla producers worldwide gathered to share production information, to explore Fair Trade and organic certification options, to learn new

strategies for marketing their crops, and to create a united position for fair wages and the opportunity for better lives for vanilla farmers and their families.  The Mexican government underwrote all of the conference costs, assuring that the conference would be free for even the poorest peasant farmers.  Free daycare and food were also included.  The government additionally underwrote the airfare and lodging for the international presenters and workshop leaders.

Speakers included Dr. Soto and Ing. Heriberto Larios of Mexico, Dr. Krsystof Waliszewski of Poland, James Reddekopp of Hawaii, Benjamin H. (Hank) Kaestner and Juan San Mames of the United States, and David Gardella of Costa Rica, each presenter providing a specific area of expertise on vanilla production, curing and drying and marketing.  As I am still in treatment for breast cancer, I was unable to attend the conference personally.  However, I sent my speech in Spanish as a DVD, which included a slide show of farmers and plantations worldwide.  Norma Vallejo kindly presented my workshop on marketing to the tourist industry.  It was interesting to learn that many farmers were amazed that their vanilla could have far more value to them than they realized.  Before the conference, they assumed that vanilla’s only value was to sell to the big traders.

The conference was held next to the Mesoamerican ruins of the twin cities of El Tajin, and simultaneous translation in Spanish, English, French and Totonaco, the indigenous language of many Mexican vanilla growers who are the descendants of the early Totonac dwellers of El Tajin, was provided.

The Birth of the ITFN

I organized the ITFN as an Internet Google group in mid-2005 as farmers with whom I’ve corresponded for several years, were frustrated about the collapse in prices and uncertain about how they should proceed.  It seemed logical that the vanilla producers themselves should be actively involved in creating positive change for their industry, whether to share information on cultivation, deal with plant diseases or even to forge new markets for their products.  As the Internet makes it possible for vanilla producers to communicate internationally, I created the Google Group.  To say it’s been successful is an understatement!

Farmers from Madagascar, Indonesia, Mexico and Central America, Tahiti and other Pacific Islands, Uganda, Kenya, India, Papua New Guinea and Australia are represented in the ITFN by producers who speak English and have access to computers.  They, in turn, represent anywhere from a few to thousands of growers who speak their traditional languages but may not speak English.  The ITFN touches tens of thousands of farmers worldwide.  And while vanilla is the primary focus of the ITFN, we are also exploring complementary crops so that families can survive when prices for vanilla are low.

The enthusiasm of the producers led to the idea of creating an international gathering.  I worked with Victor Vallejo, Juan San Mames, Isabel Engler and others in Mexico to bring about this first conference.  As Mexico is the birthplace of vanilla and the Totonac people are the first to have domesticated this plant, beloved everywhere for its extraordinary flavor and fragrance, Mexico was the ideal location for this groundbreaking conference.

Post-conference response from attendees has been resoundingly positive.  Mexico was, until the early 20^th century, the primary vanilla-producing country in the world.  The loss of Mexico’s primary rainforest and Madagascar’s relationship with the French vanilla traders changed the profile of the vanilla industry, making Madagascar the largest vanilla producing country in the world, with Indonesia as the world’s second largest producer.

The vanilla crisis from 1999 to 2004, notable for a major shortage of vanilla and subsequent high prices, brought new countries into the vanilla industry.  The collapse in prices in 2004 due to an abundance of vanilla entering the market, along with diminished demand due to major frozen dessert industry corporations switching to imitation vanilla, a new crisis was created for vanilla growers. The ITFN is addressing this crisis by creating a standard of quality for vanilla producers, new ways of marketing their vanilla, the creation of value-added vanilla products and educating both businesses and consumers on the importance of supporting this small but important tropical industry by using pure vanilla.

What’s Next?

Additional ITFN projects underway include the organization of women’s collectives in Mexico and Uganda where indigenous women in Mexico, and tribal women survivors of war, AIDS and severe abuse in Uganda, will create vanilla ornaments and other value-added products to sell through Fair Trade channels in industrialized countries as well as to the tourist industries in their respective countries.  The creation of an ITFN web site is underway, and a second ITFN conference for 2007, possibly in Java, Indonesia, is already in the formative stages.