Madagascar Aromatic and Medicinal Plants Value - Microlinks

2. COLLECTORS
Collectors and sub-collectors are aggregators or middlemen who collect harvested plant material from wildcrafters
and, to a lesser degree, from cultivators. They deliver this raw plant material (often dried) to processors. Collectors
and sub-collectors do not generally deal with plantation operators, who usually deal directly with processing plants.
Collectors operate among one, two or three layers of sub-aggregators, which is understandable given the geographical
dispersion of wildcrafters. Smaller ones collect directly from wildcrafters or small hamlet collection sites, successively
moving up to larger collectors at villages on rural roads, to even larger, often Chinese owned, trucking points on
paved roads. The levels could be referred to as “first level sub-collectors” (ambulatory, on bicycles or at small hamlet
shops), “second level sub-collectors” (medium sized, at villages on rural roads) and “third level collectors” (large).
Sub-collectors are part-time actors of the value chain, while the larger collectors are more permanent.
As demand from end-markets is not always predictable, third-level collectors do not initiate a collection campaign
until they receive an order from an exporter, a local wholesaler or a processor. Orders include purchase price
parameters. Collectors then determine the sub-collectors to contact based on their knowledge of zones where the
required plants are abundant and where competition is likely to be lower.
Collectors establish their purchase prices based on a calculated markup, differentiated according to the type of
product and the extent of handling required. Roots, barks and organics have the largest markup, while small leaves
and wildcrafted plants have the lowest. Our surveys indicate that margins for first-level sub-collectors are 10-20
percent and 25-35 percent for higher level collectors, who sell directly to
processors (see Table 11 on page 41).
A typical first-level “ambulant” collectors travels by bicycle to villages
where the plants are found and announces the plant required, some
specification, the purchase price per kg dry-weight and the date of his
return to collect the raw product. He does not provide advances to
individual wildcrafters but does provide funds to the hamlet shopkeeper
to pay for plant material as it arrives at the shop. While hamlet shops are
convenient places to collect plant material, they also pose a constraint to
quality control. Hamlet shopkeepers operate on low margins, providing
basics goods (e.g., rice, sugar, oil) to local households, at times on credit.
Shopkeepers are interested in keeping wildcrafters as customers, and thus
are more likely to accept all plant material brought to them, even if the
material does not conform to standards requested by ambulant collectors.
Typically, second- and third-level collectors regroup the collections of dry
material made by those of the bicycle group, and are characterized by the
use of pick-ups or trucks along more accessible roads. This level can be
linked to suppliers to larger commercial outfits that feed directly into
urban processing plants in Antananarivo, Fianarantsoa or Toamasina.
PHOTO 3
Hamlet shop serving also as a
collection point. Shop owners are
generally migrants. To maintain a
good standing in the community,
they must establish good
relationships with collectors. They
are generally willing to forfeit a
small amount on the AMP
collection transaction in order to
gain a loyal customer for basic
consumer products.
MADAGASCAR AROMATIC AND MEDICINAL PLANT VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS 31