FR Driving sustainability
across 4 key areas
2030 Sustainable Vanilla Charter
The vanilla sector is entering a decisive decade. With rising risks
but also clear opportunities.
The 2030 Charter sets out a shared roadmap to respond to
both, enabling companies to act collectively and credibly toward a more sustainable, resilient vanilla industry.
The SVI Sustainability Commitments
Sector Governance
Grow a stable market for sustainable and traceable vanilla.
Living Income
Improve and sustain vanilla farmers’ incomes and livelihoods.
Forest Positive
Contribute to the protection of forests in vanilla-producing regions.
Child Labour
Address and reduce risks of child labour in vanilla production.
Sector Governance
Sustainable vanilla is dependent on a healthy and stable market. Creating the conditions for this requires improved governance including greater transparency and traceability in the sector as well as professionalization. Many companies follow their own programs and have private certification in place which provides pockets of professionalization opportunities and enhanced product traceability. But for the sector as a whole to be improved a lot depends on the efforts and partnerships with local and national governments from origin countries. SVI works closely with partners in the main origin country of Madagascar. It also works in Uganda which provides an opportunity to diversify thereby stabilizing the market.
1. Madagascar sector governance & advocacy
Since its launch in 2015, the SVI has been very active in collaborating with the Malagasy vanilla sector to improve the governance of the vanilla sector. Since then the SVI has been facilitating regular exchanges between the international industry and the Malagasy government and representatives of Malagasy vanilla bean growers, and collector and exporter groups to agree on priorities for sector management. In 2024, SVI onboarded 21 Malagasy exporters who joined SVI as associate members to add their voices to the global agenda and ensure SVI is strategic and pertinent in its advocacy and actions in Madagascar.
2. Uganda: Support other origins
SVI is supporting the capacity building of national structures such as the Uganda Vanilla Exporters Association (VANEX). With the support of SVI and as part of a project developed by CRS, exporters are engaged in accelerated branding and marketing including successfully launching a new website at the end of 2023 Vanilla from Uganda.
Living Income
1. Understanding Living Income Gaps
SVI and its members are committed to improving and sustaining vanilla farmers’ incomes and livelihoods. This commitment means investing in strategies to help farmers close the gap between current incomes and a living income. This is in line with IDH’s Roadmap on Living Income which guides companies to (i) understand living income gaps and (ii) take action to close these gaps.
Since 2019 SVI has collaborated with Fairtrade and a third party researcher to regularly update data on the average living income of farmers. This provides an important perspective on farmer incomes during highs and lows in the vanilla market. The latest update for 2023/2024 is now available here.
2. Company Actions
Measures to support farmer’s income situation starts with good procurement practices. SVI encourages members to build trustful long-term partnerships with suppliers on the ground, as well as continue support in down times.
Farmer facing programs are key to bringing value to farmers and communities. This includes accessing good agricultural practices for better efficiency and quality, lowering production costs, and supporting the diversification of incomes. The 2023/2024 living income study demonstratres how company programs with farmers and communities have significantly contributed to improving incomes and livelihoods.
SVI facilitates collective action among different company members towards livelihood programs. This includes SVI members offering free Health insurance and access to medical service year round as well as supporting schooling, school materials and after school educational support.
SVI also coordinates collective action in response to emergency situations. In partnership with CARE, SVI members recently mobilized relief support to nearly 7,500 people following the Gamane cyclone in March 2024 (click here for more info) as well as to the Enawo cyclone in 2017 which hit hard the Sava region’s communities and vanilla production. During Covid, SVI members provided access to sanitary & hygiene products, as well as health and hygiene materials to local institutions.
Forest Positive
SVI members have committed to a forest positive supply chain by 2030.
Madagascar is the main vanilla producing country, supplying an estimated 80% of the global vanilla market. The Northeastern region is known for its vanilla cultivation and is also one of the most biodiverse regions in the world.
1. Forest Monitoring Toolkit
Monitoring is a crucial first step in preventing deforestation and implementing sustainable change. SVI has developed a Forest Monitoring Tool that enables members to understand land cover changes and deforestation hotspots in their supply chains. The tool can help members and the sector to improve traceability, contribute to collective action, comply with upcoming EU Due Diligence legislation, while supporting the protection of precious Malagasy forests.
The SVI Forest Positive Toolkit is comprised of two main tools:
1. The Landscape Assessment Tool: an online toolkit based on aggregated data sourced from satellite imaging and derived data products, which support trend detection, risk assessment and future monitoring of areas of interest at commune level.
2. The Farm-level Assessment: a report generated from data, confidentially submitted by the company, to present relevant statistics and information on specific farm locations.
Click here to access our SVI Forest Monitoring Toolkit Overview
2. Community Reforestation Pilot in Protected area
In October 2024 SVI launched its first collective action on community reforestation and conservation in the protected area of the Makirovana Tsihomanaomby (MT) forest with Missouri Botanical Gardens (MBG).
The main objective of the project is to improve the resilience of the forest in order to maintain its ecological functions for the well-being of the local communities. Specifically, over the next 5 years, 150 hectares of degraded forest within the MT protected area will be restored to a primary forest closely resembling the reference ecosystem in terms of structure and flora. This is a pioneering project combining community reforestation and voluntary collaboration with the people causing pressure in a protected area, the results of which will be capitalized on and shared with other sites. Furthermore, the learnings of this pilot shall pave the way for best practices and learnings to be scaled in other vanilla-growing areas.
3. Forest Positive Community of Practice
A Forest Positive Community of Practice was launched in early 2024 by SVI composed of environmental experts and Malagasy vanilla exporters to exchange on learnings and best to collectively advance the SVI Forest Positive Commitment on the ground. This involves aligning interventions with local and national authorities, ongoing changes and contributing to the SVI global agenda on environmental protection.
Child Labour
Address and reduce child labour in vanilla production.
Since its inception in 2015, SVI and its industry members have committed to addressing child labour in vanilla production and processing in Madagascar.
1. Vanilla Code of Conduct (CoC)
In December 2015, the Malagasy Government with Vanilla Exporters signed the Vanilla Code of Conduct (CoC) setting the trajectory for Madagascar to fight against Child Labour in the Vanilla Supply Chain. SVI members recognise that the fight against child labour is a continuous process and requires continued effort to scale supply chain projects to improve awareness building, CoC implementation, and remediation on child labour where necessary.
Addressing child labour cannot be accomplished by individual companies acting alone, it requires a collective answer from the local authorities, vanilla industry representative organizations and supply chain stakeholders. SVI collaborates with different organisations to provide assistance in CoC implementation and awareness raising materials against child labour.
2. SVI toolkit of awareness-rising against child labour
SVI has compiled a toolkit of reference documents, awareness-raising tools, and training tools to support the fight against child labour. While these resources were compiled specifically for exporters, curers and collectors in the vanilla sector in Madagascar, we encourage their use by any stakeholder.