KAMPALA. The Ministry of Agriculture has announced that harvesting for the second vanilla season of 2025 will begin on December 29.
According to Agriculture state minister, Mr Fred Kyakulaga Bwino harvesting will continue for the next three months.
“ Setting an official harvest date prevents farmers from picking immature vanilla, which could compromise overall quality,” the minister said while addressing Journalists at the Uganda Media Centre in Kampala on December 4, 2025.
Kyakulaga added that Uganda’s annual production has risen sharply over the last five years — from 90 metric tonnes in 2019 to over 600 metric tonnes in 2024.
Vanilla remains one of Uganda’s most valuable horticultural crops, supplying about 5 percent of global demand. It is currently grown in 28 districts across the central, western, and eastern regions.
Vanilla is harvested twice a year, in June -August and December –January.
Most of Uganda’s black gourmet vanilla is exported to Europe with the extract grades sold to US.
In 2020, Uganda exported vanilla worth US$13.3m making it the 10th largest exporter of vanilla in the world. Madagascar is the leading producer and exporter of vanilla to the international market with 1200 to 2000 metric tonnes exported in a single season.
In the mid-90s, vanilla became the leading source of income for many households in the districts of Mukono, Mpigi, Luweero ,Bundibugyo and Kasese, but some abandoned the crop due to fluctuating prices and thieves who raid their gardens .This trend has denied players a chance of making extra money from the international market as expected.