Impact of Vanilla Sector Degradation on Socioeconomic in Rural Madagascar
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61798/0pdhry09Keywords:
Vanilla, Degradation, Economy, Society, MadagascarAbstract
This study examines the economic impacts of vanilla sector degradation in rural Madagascar, with the primary aim of understanding how market instability and environmental stress affect smallholder livelihoods. The study uses a qualitative dominant mixed approach, combining household surveys, semi-structured interviews, and group discussions conducted with 20 participants drawn from major vanilla producing communities. The findings show that heavy dependence on vanilla income exposes households to pronounced vulnerability during periods of price decline, leading to reduced food security, increased labor pressure, and unstable land use practices. These impacts interact and reinforce one another, extending the consequences of sector degradation beyond income loss alone. The study demonstrates that degradation of the vanilla sector generates multidimensional livelihood risks in rural Madagascar.
References
Aalders, I.H., & Aitkenhead, M.J. (2006). Agricultural census data and land use modelling. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 30(6), 799–814. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compenvurbsys.2005.06.003
Andriamihaja, O.R., Metz, F., Zaehringer, J.G., Fischer, M., & Messerli, P. (2019). Land competition under telecoupling: distant actors’ environmental versus economic claims on land in North-Eastern Madagascar. Sustainability, 11(851), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11030851
Andriamparany, J. N., Hänke, H., & Schlecht, E. (2021). Food security and food quality among vanilla farmers in Madagascar: The role of contract farming and livestock keeping. Food Security, 13(4), 981–1012. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-021-01153-z
Andriatsitohaina, R. N. N., Celio, E., Llopis, J. C., Rabemananjara, Z. H., Ramamonjisoa, B. S., & Grêt-Regamey, A. (2020). Participatory Bayesian network modeling to understand driving factors of land-use change decisions: insights from two case studies in northeast Madagascar. Journal of Land Use Science, 15(1), 69–90. https://doi.org/10.1080/1747423X.2020.1742810
Aripranata, A., Isarangkool Na Ayutthaya, S., & Choenkwan, S. (2025). Livelihood assets analysis of vanilla farmers in Jembrana district, Bali, Indonesia. Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development in the Tropics and Subtropics (JARTS), 126(1), 97-108. https://doi.org/10.17170/kobra-2025011410822
Banerjee, G., & Chattopadhyay, P. (2019). Vanillin biotechnology: Perspectives and future. Science of Food and Agriculture, 99, 6396–6408. https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.9303
Bell, A. R., Rakotonarivo, O. S., Bhargava, A., Duthie, A. B., Zhang, W., Sargent, R., & Kipchumba, A. (2023). Financial incentives often fail to reconcile agricultural productivity and pro-conservation behavior. Communications Earth & Environment, 4(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-00689-6
Bhagyanathan, D. A., & Dhayanithy, D. D. (2023). Association of socioeconomic factors, state of the environment and disaster occurrences with environmental attitudes in Kerala, India. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 87, Article 103572. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2023.103572
Birthal, P. S., & Hazrana, J. (2019). Crop diversification and resilience of agriculture to climatic shocks: Evidence from India. Agricultural Systems, 173, 345–354. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2019.03.005
Brimont, L., Ezzine-de-Blas, D., Karsenty, A., & Toulon, A. (2015). Achieving conservation and equity amidst extreme poverty and climate risk: The Makira REDD+ Project in Madagascar. Forests, 6(12), 748–768. https://doi.org/10.3390/f6030748
Celio, E., Andriatsitohaina, R. N. N., Llopis, J. C., & Gret-Regamey, A. (2023). Assessing farmers’ income vulnerability to vanilla and clove export economies in northeastern Madagascar using land-use change modelling. Journal of Land Use Science, 18(1), 55–83. https://doi.org/10.1080/1747423X.2023.2168778
Dale, B. (2020). Alliances for agroecology: From climate change to food system change. Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, 44(5), 629–652. https://doi.org/10.1080/21683565.2019.1697787
De Groot, R.S., Wilson, M.A., & Boumans, R.M.J. (2002). A typology for the classification, description and valuation of ecosystem functions, goods and services. Ecological Economics, 41(3), 393–408. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0921-8009(02)00089-7
De Pinto, A., Seymour, G., Bryan, E., & Bhandari, P. (2020). Women’s empowerment and farmland allocations in Bangladesh: Evidence of a possible pathway to crop diversification. Climatic Change, 163(2), 1025–1043. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-020-02925-w
De Vasconcelos, N., Gomes, D. C. B. B., & Martins, X. (2025). Analysis of Vanilla Production and Sales Impact on Community Welfare. International Scientific Journal of UNPAZ Timor-Leste, 1(01), 26-30. https://doi.org/10.3007/svtvdp37
Elhini M, Hassaballa H, Simpson NP, Balbaa M, Ibrahim R, Mansour S, Abou-Kota ME, Ganzour S. 2024. The land degradation and desertification-socioeconomic nexus in Egypt's delta region: A case study on Alexandria and Beheira. Heliyon, 10(10), e31165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e31165.
Emynorane, R. H., Arrive, J. T., Bien-Aimé, W. D., & Augustin, R. S. (2025). Decentralization and its Impact on Governance and Political Accountability in Madagascar. Journal of Administration, Governance, and Political Issues, 2(1), 97–108. https://doi.org/10.47134/jagpi.v2i1.3949
Fleming, M., Bell, A., Harison, H. R., Herrera, J., Duthie, A. B., Kramer, R., & Rakotonarivo, O. S. (2025). Impact of price shocks and payments on crop diversification and forest use among Malagasy vanilla farmers. Biological Conservation, 302, 110915. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2024.110915
Gallage, N. J., Jørgensen, K., Janfelt, C., Nielsen, A. J. Z., Naake, T., Duński, E., Dalsten, L., Grisoni, M., & Møller, B. L. (2018). The intracellular localization of the vanillin biosynthetic machinery in pods of Vanilla planifolia. Plant and Cell Physiology, 59(2), 304–318. https://doi.org/10.1093/pcp/pcx185
Gardner, C.J., Nicoll, M.E., Birkinshaw, C., Harris, A., Lewis, R.E., Rakotomalala, D., & Ratsifandrihamanana, A.N. (2018). The rapid expansion of Madagascar’ s protected area system. Biological Conservation. Elsevier, 220(April 2018), 29–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2018.02.011
Heinimann, A., Mertz, O., Frolking, S., Egelund Christensen, A., Hurni, K., Sedano, F., Parsons Chini, L., Sahajpal, R., Hansen, M., & Hurtt, G. (2017). A global view of shifting cultivation: Recent, current, and future extent. PloS One, 12(9), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0184479
Kalemile, D. M., Sulley, B. A., & Mwita, B. C. (2024). Contribution of vanilla production on livelihood of smallholder farmers: a case of Missenyi District Council, Tanzania. African Journal of Accounting and Social Science Studies, 6(1), 180–195. https://doi.org/10.4314/ajasss.v6i1.
Kull, C.A. (2000). Deforestation, erosion, and fire : Degradation myths in the environmental history of Madagascar. Environment and History, 6(4), 423–450. https://doi.org/10.3197/096734000129342361
Kunz, S., Hänke, H., & Schlecht, E. (2020). Income diversification through animal husbandry for smallholder vanilla farmers in Madagascar. Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development in the Tropics and Subtropics, 121(1), 63–75. https://doi.org/10.17170/kobra-202004061143
Levers, C., Butsic, V., Verburg, P.H., Müller, D., & Kuemmerle, T. (2016). Drivers of changes in agricultural intensity in Europe. Land Use Policy. 8(December 2016), 380–393. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2016.08.013
Piquer-Rodríguez, M., Butsic, V., Gärtner, P., Macchi, L., Baumann, M., Pizarro, G. G., Volante, J. N., Gasparri, N. I., & Kuemmerle, T. (2018). Drivers of agricultural land-use change in the Argentine Pampas and Chaco regions. Applied Geography, 91, 111–122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2018.01.004
Prabawani, B., Hadi, S. P., Fisher, M. R., Warsono, H., Dewi, R. S., & Ainuddin, I. (2024). Socioeconomic perspective of agroforestry development in Central Java. Environmental and Sustainability Indicators, 22, Article 100354. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indic.2024.100354
Rakoto Harison, H., Herrera, J. P., & Rakotonarivo, O. S. (2024). Compounding impacts of COVID-19, cyclone and price crash on vanilla farmers’ food security and natural resource use. PloS One, 19, e0311249. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0311249
Rakotonarivo, O. S., Bell, A., Abernethy, K., Minderman, J., Duthie, A. B., Redpath, S., & Keane, A. (2021). The role of incentive-based instruments and social equity in conservation conflict interventions. Ecology and Society, 26(2). https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-12306-260208
Rasmussen, L. V., Grass, I., Mehrabi, Z., Smith, O. M., Bezner-Kerr, R., Blesh, J., & Garibaldi, L. A. (2024). Joint environmental and social benefits from diversified agriculture. Science, 384(6691), 87–93. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adj1914
Scales, I. R. (2014). The drivers of deforestation and the complexity of land use in Madagascar. Conservation and Society, 12(4), 370–385. https://doi.org/10.4103/0972-4923.155572
Van Versendaal, L., & Schickhoff, U. (2025). Viability of nature conservation in the midst of crises: A review of community perspectives during the COVID-19 pandemic in Madagascar. Trees, Forests and People, 21, 100893. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tfp.2025.10089
Watteyn, C., Dejonghe, O., Van Hoyweghen, K., Azofeifa Bolaños, J. B., Karremans, A. P., Vranken, L., Reubens, B., Muys, B., & Maertens, M. (2022). Exploring farmer preferences towards innovations in the vanilla supply chain. Journal of Cleaner Production, 330, 129831. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.129831
Zaehringer, J. G., Eckert, S., & Messerli, P. (2015). Revealing regional deforestation dynamics in north-eastern Madagascar — Insights from multi-temporal land cover analysis. Land, 4(2), 454–474. https://doi.org/10.3390/land4020454
Zhu, A. (2018). Hot money, cold beer: Navigating the vanilla and rosewood export economies in northeastern Madagascar. American Ethnologist, 45(2), 253–267. https://doi.org/10.1111/amet.12636
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Ralainirina Razokiny Eric, Ralaivao Hanginiaina Emynorane, Jean Tsitaire Arrive (Author)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

