Due to the dependency of vanilla for the economy, when prices rose many in Madagascar and Comoros countries fell below the poverty line and turned to crime in order to make a living.
Crime and Poverty In 2004 political fights and a devastating cyclone occurred in Madagascar destroying many crops and therefore raising the global price for the product. Due to the newly found economic value of the orchid crime rates in Madagascar and Comoros rose tremendously. Those who stole the vanilla crops went virtually unopposed with 0% number of prisoners in Madagascan holding facilities. The fear of losing a crop caused farmers to harvest their vanilla too early, lowering the quality of their product and further damaging the value of vanilla. The cyclone and the uncertain market for vanilla caused many to slip into poverty (Madagascar: Vanilla Farmers). Research has shown that in the Comoros Islands and Madagascar, crop theft increased with poverty. In 2004 poverty rates were at an average of 60% for Comoros and 50% for Madagascar, this time period had an increasingly high crime rate (Africa: Comoros). Currently, crime statistics of Madagascar are lowest in all of Africa, most crimes reported involve robberies and pick pocketing (Africa: Madagascar). One major concern is the smuggling of vanilla in the country. Since the cyclone in 2004 the vanilla market never fully rebuilt because during that year companies that used the ingredient turned to cheaper vanilla imitation flavors.
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Child Labor There have been reports of children who, in Madagascar, have been kidnapped to work on vanilla, coffee and cacao farms. Tens of thousands of children are being forced to work on vanilla farms. The children, working with or without their families, work six to seven hour days, they do not attend school.(McDougall). The conditions are brutal and are quite taxing.
“Many of my friends work in the fields around here. We don’t go to school. I work with my family. Close to the harvest time we all have to sleep alongside the plants to protect them. Ants cover our bodies.” Usually children in Madagascar work on farms with their family in order to make a profit.
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