Back in 2018, Atlas Obscura found out how and why Madagascar grew 80% of the world’s vanilla:
The reason that Madagascar is still on top of the vanilla game is grim: According to The Financial Times, it’s one of the few regions with the right climate that is also poor enough to make laborious hand-pollination affordable. While other countries, such as India, have dabbled in heavy vanilla production, huge swings in the international price make it a dangerous crop to grow widely. Many farmers choose to stick to other crops. This concentration of vanilla production makes the industry and prices even more precarious—currently, events in Madagascar have led to some ice cream parlors losing money on each scoop of vanilla.
7 years later and Madagascar remains the world’s biggest vanilla grower and exporter (ahead of France) but the export percentage varies depending on where you look. A quick Google search gave me figures of 54% in 2023 for export but growth is apparently still 80%. Either way, the circumstances suck and I’ll perhaps think twice before I buy any Madagascan vanilla products (a rarity but it’s better to be considerate).