Vanilla farming gains ground in Afore

VANILLA farming is on the rise in the 18 wards at Afore local level government in Ijivitari, Northern.
The LLG in the past was a strong producer of Arabica coffee.
However, poor road infrastructure and lack of coffee mills in the province has hampered the interest of growers, prompting them to switch to vanilla.
There are about 10,000 vanilla farmers now with over 120,000 vanilla vines in what could become a lucrative industry for both Afore and Northern.
Local leader Isaiah Mamure, when addressing vanilla coordinators, urged the farmers to form a cooperative society or association to be recognised by the Government.
“This is a lucrative business. Therefore, we need to incorporate an association and invite the Agriculture and Livestock Minister (Benny Allan) to launch the certificate for us,” he said.