This Saturday, 25th May, is Africa Day – a special occasion that has long been ringed on the LittlePod calendar. Four-and-a-half years have passed since we first met Irine Hendry, a vanilla farmer’s daughter, during our trip to Tanzania for the 2019 International Vanilla Symposium in Moshi. In that time, a great deal has changed, although one thing remains the same. Keen to stress that the vanilla farming communities in the Equatorial regions are still reliant on our support, Irine this week gave Paul an update. These are her words:

LittlePod helped me achieve my dream and change my life. I longed to become a Certified Public Accountant. But my parents, who are vanilla farmers, could not afford to support my studies. There are lots of graduates with bachelor degrees here and, without additional qualifications, you cannot succeed in the career that I wanted. Janet offered to sponsor my studies, which enabled me to get the job I had always dreamt of, and I’m now working as an internal auditor for the Tanzanian government. LittlePod no longer sponsor me, but Janet and the team in the UK are still helping to change people’s lives through their Campaign for Real Vanilla.

LittlePod’s Campaign for Real Vanilla is so important. It’s important for the farmers and it’s important for the environment too. Because LittlePod speak to the farmers directly, the farmers are able to understand the importance of cultivating vanilla. They know that they have a crop that people want and need. And they know that there are people who appreciate what they’re doing. LittlePod is encouraging the farmers to keep planting vanilla. They’re also teaching people in the West where vanilla comes from and why it is important to keep growing it.

LittlePod improves the lives of vanilla farmers. Their livelihoods depend on people buying real vanilla. LittlePod’s vanilla paste in a tube isn’t just good for the food you make in your kitchen, it’s also helping to support vanilla farmers all over the world. I’m following LittlePod on Instagram and am enjoying seeing what people make using vanilla paste and other products. It’s good that LittlePod is inspiring people to use real vanilla in their kitchens instead of artificial alternatives. We need this to continue in order to meet our basic needs and protect our environment.

My parents have been vanilla farmers since 2007 – vanilla is important to me. Selling vanilla meant my parents were able to pay my school fees. And it was through vanilla that I met Janet in 2019 and became LittlePod’s Voice of Africa. Since then, things have started to change. More farmers here are planting vanilla and my father has increased the size of the farm, planting more vanilla and replacing some of the older vines, which are producing fewer vanilla pods. It’ll soon be time for the harvest again here. This is something that we do between June and August.

Last year’s vanilla harvest wasn’t so good. I’m pleased to say that my parents are well, but the 2023 harvest didn’t produce as much vanilla as compared to previous years. This is because there was too little rain here. My father does have a pond to store rain water and that helps, but there was not enough water to irrigate the vanilla orchids for the whole of the summer season. Our agriculture is dependent on rainwater. I just hope that this year’s crop will be better.

I know LittlePod’s farmers in Indonesia use a polyculture system. This is a good system that helps the environment. The vanilla orchid needs to be in the shade. It cannot grow in direct sunlight. In Tanzania, we are growing other crops at the vanilla farm. There are banana trees and avocado trees and these provide the shadows that help the vanilla to grow. The process of growing vanilla – from the orchids to the pods to the final product – is about environmental preservation. This is why people should continue to support the farmers and use LittlePod’s vanilla paste in a tube!

I’m a long way from home and my parents at the vanilla farm. Since last Africa Day, I have started a new job in Kalambo. This is more than 1,500 kilometres from Moshi, my home town. It’s a two-day trip by bus. I started in January, having been among 850 people who were interviewed for 200 positions. I’m grateful to Janet and to LittlePod for supporting me and helping me to get this far. The job is going well, although I have, unfortunately, lost my laptop. I need a new one, otherwise I have to stay late at work. It will take four or five months to be able to afford a replacement.

I’m looking forward to celebrating Africa Day this weekend. Here in Tanzania, Africa Day isn’t a public holiday, it’s still a regular, working day. But it is an occasion that will be celebrated, especially in schools. Each school will hold a ceremony for Africa Day, and it’s nice to know that this is something that is recognised around the world. If I had a message to share on Africa Day, it would be this: that LittlePod’s natural vanilla paste is the best and that when you use it, you are supporting vanilla farmers and their families. Thank-you to all and Happy Africa Day!