Uganda to market vanilla as high-end export

For food producers all over the world, the French gourmet chef is perhaps the most discerning of critics. With one nod of approval deciding the fate of many a high end supplier, it is nonetheless still seen as a prize worth aspiring towards.

This is certainly what Uganda is working towards with vanilla. For according to research by the Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Industry, there is a niche market in countries such as France and the USA.

“Uganda is a one of the world’s few exporters of vanilla,” explains Lisa Cummins, a Trade Policy Analyst working at the ministry. “In examining how best to export this product the ministry studied different markets where there are varying levels of demand and concluded that the organic vanilla produced in Uganda has the ability to succeed at the high-end of several Western countries.”

Enhancing trading ties

This marketing exercise is part of a larger effort to increase Uganda’s trading ties in the global system. The ministry hopes that in time a number of other products can be identified and channelled into specific markets.

Ms Cummins joined the ministry 13 months ago from Barbados - where she worked for ten years in the Foreign Service. During her time based in Kampala, Ms Cummins has been involved with implementing and supporting initiatives which focus on developing trade and services in Uganda.

While playing a supporting role in helping the ministry effectively export vanilla, she has primarily worked on the ongoing negotiations for an economic partnership agreement with Europe.

The ability of Uganda to utilise any market access in trade in services will depend heavily on the reorganisation and development of this sector at a national level. It is for that reason that, for Ms Cummins, the key to boosting the services sector in the East African country is by acknowledging that all services – whether tourism, construction, engineering, or information and communication technology – must rely on one another as they will struggle to thrive by operating in isolation.

In order to promote greater synergies among the services sector and the development of infrastructural services which can drive the wider economy, Ms Cummins is working with the ministry on a groundbreaking coalition of services – the first of its kind in any continental African country.

Once this network is up and running on a national level Ms Cummins believes Uganda will be well equipped to join the Global Services Network, which will usher in many opportunities.

“Uganda will be able to share knowledge, new skills, market techniques and export opportunities with countries across the world,” she explains.

Ms Cummins is part of the ‘Hub and Spokes’ project, which aims to help African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries to participate more effectively in multilateral trade negotiations. This project places regional trade policy advisers in regional integration organisations and trade policy analysts, like Ms Cummins, in ministries responsible for trade.

In partnership

The Commonwealth Secretariat, which acts as the managing agent of the project, works in collaboration with the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, the European Commission, and with support from the ACP Secretariat.

“What makes the Hub and Spokes project distinct from other such programmes is that dedicated experts are embedded in a department or an organisation on a day-to-day basis for an extended period of time,” says Ms Cummins.

“While advisers from other organisations conduct studies and then leave after submitting their proposals, Hub and Spokes analysts are able to conduct diagnostic work and consultations, draft and design frameworks and be on hand throughout the implementation of projects to oversee the work being carried out.”

Ms Cummins argues that as a ‘Spoke’ who is “embedded” in the ministry she can act in two capacities: as an official from the Commonwealth Secretariat and as a representative from the Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Industry. This allows her not only to be accepted as an expert member of the team in Kampala, but she is also able to represent Uganda effectively in regional and international trade negotiations.

The other advantage of deploying trade experts from one ACP country to work in another, she contends, is the potential for sharing knowledge and experiences across different regions.

With this in mind Ms Cummins is exploring taking a team from Uganda to look at how Caribbean countries have successfully used one product – sugar - to its maximum potential, by exporting other by-products of sugar, such as rum.