From The Field Trading Company

From The Field Trading Company - Farmers

Vanilla & Families

From the Field works directly with rural vanilla and clove growers in the Mananara Nord region of Northeastern Madagascar. Here, families have been cultivating vanilla for generations, and take great pride in the superior quality of their vanilla beans.

The growers we work with own their own small plots of land. The money families earn from vanilla and clove production is often the primary source of cash income for the year. This income is put towards meeting basic household needs such as education, health care, and food security. From the Field offers rural growers a premium price for their high quality vanilla beans – money that goes a long way for families.

FTF Vanilla Growers Co-ops

From the Field has helped numerous famers associations and cooperatives in regions where we work. We offer capacity building and training opportunities to farmers. One of our primary farmers cooperatives in Mananara Nord evolved from ongoing conversations between our staff and many of the farmer associations we have worked with since 2005. The cooperative was formed to bring together many local farmer associations across a large rural region. This organization reaches hundreds of households, and spans a region that is home to some of the most lush vanilla and clove production areas in Madagascar.

We support cooperatives that are led democratically by elected local farmers. Our co-op partners are dedicated to providing members a forum that encourages growers to share experiences, labor, ideas, and market information. From the Field’s Madagascar team works with cooperative project leaders to assure the highest quality standards are maintained during cultivation, harvest and transport of our vanilla beans.

Vanilla & Community

We work with growers who are more than just talented farmers; they are also community leaders. Many are active in community activities, including health initiatives, women’s associations, and tree planting efforts. Two of From the Field’s founding members have worked and lived with these communities over many years, and have really gotten to know the people, culture, and products of the region.

This history has given us a first-hand look at what communities envision for their future, and we work hard to support ideas that come out of the communities where we work. This approach has inspired us to partner with growers to help launch a variety of community projects, including local tree nurseries, a community library, and a college scholarship fund. Overall, we believe that direct trade is about more than offering farmers higher prices – it is also about empowering farmers, their communities and their families.

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	Vanilla & Environment
	At FTF, we work with families that share our priorities of taking a long-term, sustainable approach to environments. The farmers we work with cultivate vanilla within systems that combine forest and agriculture, where vanilla vines grow alongside of food crops, fruit trees, coffee plants, clove trees and native trees. These unique systems provide needed habitat for plant, animal and insect species. They also promote healthy soils, water systems, and atmospheres. The growers we work with do not use chemical pesticides or fertilizers – also promoting community and environmental health over the long-term. The Mananara region is located within Madagascar's Northeast forest corridor. The region supports a UNESCO biosphere reserve and marine park, which protects some of the last remaining stretches of primary rainforest in Madagascar. These ecosystems contain many endangered species, including lemurs, native palm trees, and chameleons. Madagascar itself has one of the highest concentrations of biodiversity in the world, causing it to be considered a biological “hotspot” among conservation biologists.