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Madagascar gold: meet
the vanilla hustlers – in pictures

Vanilla is the world’s most popular flavour, and surging demand has recently made the spice more expensive than silver. In Sambava, Madagascar, dubbed the Vanilla Capital, young men are trying to cash in on the gold rush. Meet the vanilla hustlers.

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Jungle in northeastern Madagascar, where the vanilla is grown. Three quarters of the global crop is produced in the region, with 2 000 tons being exported.

Emmanuel farms a small plot of land on the road from Sambava to Andapa. He checks his vanilla pods on the vine. The market price for the pod has risen to $600 a kilo.

While food corporations work with large exporting companies, there is also a booming informal trade. Justin ‘Vanille’ is selling the pods from an old Citroen van.

When vanilla isn’t properly cured and sun-dried, it contains a lot of moisture - making the cash crop heavier and thus more expensive.

Rue Ambudimanga, one of the city’s grubby side alleys, is at the heart of the local vanilla market. In this notorious backstreet, Sambava’s young men linger in the sweltering heat, waiting for customers.

Bienvenue does not consume the vanilla himself. ‘We are here in Africa, we only sell the stuff’ explains the hustler. The black bundle he tries to sell to us smells temptingly tart-sweet. ‘This stuff is too costly for cooking. We sell it!

Bags of vanilla conjured out of the saddlebags of a motorbike for a potential customer. The grey market price on Rue Ambudimanga is a whopping £350 a kilo - before haggling.

Being in the vanilla business means always being ready for a new business opportunity.

Vanille hustler Laurence ‘Vanille’, 26, explains that it is not easy living in the North of Madagascar’s Sava region - ‘there are no jobs for men like us’.

Vanilla hustler Prisco à l’Appareil, 27, is also a locally famous rap musician. He sings about money, fame, girls and vanilla. He is constantly on the phone with new customers.

Stalls sell caffeine rich kola nuts and tea to keep the hustlers alert.

Other vanilla hustlers explain that they are chewing khat to stay alert. Jean-Louis says that ‘it is a dangerous business’.

Henri is 15 years old and wants to become a ‘vanilla-boss’ when he is older. At the moment the trade is too ‘risky’ for him because of the dangers associated with the trade.