Vanilla Agriculture and One Health in Rural Madagascar (2026-2027)

Background

Crop loss has far-reaching health consequences, especially for subsistence farming communities where livelihoods and nutrition depend on agricultural success. Loss of income can reduce access to healthcare and increase reliance on hunting, raising risks of zoonotic disease exposure. Farming practices, land-use change and climate change all influence crop pests and pathogens — and they shape the abundance of small mammals such as rats and mice that serve as reservoirs for human infectious diseases. These interconnections exemplify the One Health framework, which considers the linked health of humans, animals and ecosystems.

In northeastern Madagascar’s SAVA Region, named for its main towns (Sambava, Andapa, Vohemar, Antalaha), these dynamics play out around a single crop of global significance: vanilla. More than half of the world’s vanilla supply — largely cultivated by smallholder farmers — comes from this region. Vanilla orchids are vulnerable to multiple bacterial, viral and fungal pathogens, and farmers face growing pressures from climate change, ecological disruption and fluctuating agricultural markets. Despite the crop’s global importance, the health and ecological consequences of vanilla disease and crop loss remain understudied.

Project Description

This project will conduct integrated One Health research at the intersection of crop disease, farming practice, biodiversity and human health. Team members will travel to the SAVA Region of Madagascar for five weeks in Summer 2026 to work alongside long-standing Malagasy partners.

Key components of the research include:

Vanilla disease ecology
The team will sample 25 vanilla farms using a spatially balanced, random sampling strategy to document the prevalence and distribution of viral, bacterial and fungal pathogens. Duplicate plant samples will be dried and sent to collaborating labs for pathogen screening — fungal analyses at NC State University and viral and bacterial analyses at Mahaliana Labs in Madagascar.

Human health and livelihood connections
Working with local collaborators, the team will survey vanilla farmers to examine how crop losses affect food security, healthcare access and reliance on hunting. Surveys will also assess farmers’ perceptions of disease, farming practices, market pressures and climate impacts.

Climate change and agroecology
The project will integrate remote sensing and climate modeling to map areas where climate stressors are most severe. The team will analyze how changes in harvest seasons, rainfall or temperature interact with farming practices to influence crop loss and disease spread.

Small mammal ecology and zoonotic risk
To understand how agricultural practices shape biodiversity and pathogen exposure, the project will trap and sample rats, mice and bats around vanilla farms, collecting tissues and swabs for pathogen screening.

Bioacoustic biodiversity monitoring
Passive acoustic monitors will be deployed to measure how farming practices influence species diversity and ecological functioning across vanilla agroecosystems.

Together, these components will reveal how vanilla agriculture links to human and environmental health and will inform sustainable farming and conservation practices.

Anticipated Outputs

Initial datasets on vanilla pathogens, biodiversity indicators and farmer experiences
Scientific manuscripts and conference presentations
Guidance materials for smallholder farmers in collaboration with Malagasy partners
Foundations for larger grant proposals and future field studies
Student honors or master’s theses

Student Opportunities

The team will include approximately 2 graduate students and 5 undergraduate students, with 3 undergraduates and 1-2 graduate students joining the fieldwork team in Madagascar in May 2026. Students with interests in ecology, epidemiology, botany, infectious disease, climate science, spatial modeling, global health or One Health are encouraged to apply.

Students will gain experience in:

Field research, including pathogen sampling, ecological surveys and biodiversity monitoring
Designing and administering culturally informed survey instruments
Laboratory analyses in both Madagascar and the U.S.
Data management, spatial analysis and statistical modeling in R
Scientific communication, manuscript preparation and interdisciplinary teamwork

Fieldwork will take place in a remote area with tent accommodations, no electricity and limited water access. Students must be prepared for extended days of outdoor data collection and collaborative work across languages (Malagasy, French) and cultural contexts.

In Fall 2026 and Spring 2027, the team will meet on Wednesdays from 2-3 p.m.

Timing

Summer 2026 – Summer 2027

Summer 2026 (required):

Plant pathogen sampling, small mammal trapping, survey development and deployment
Begin laboratory processing of samples in Antananarivo

Fall 2026:

Clean and analyze field data
Identify plant pathogens and small mammal infection patterns
Investigate spatial disease distribution and develop climate modeling approaches

Spring 2027:

Complete epidemiologic and modeling analyses
Plan next steps for lab and fieldwork; prepare grant applications

Summer 2027 (optional):

Draft manuscripts and research reports; refine project dissemination

Crediting

Academic credit available for fall and spring semesters