• Cloves account for nearly 90% of Comoros’ agricultural exports, but export revenues fell 53% between 2022 and 2024.
• The government opened national consultations to rebuild the sector’s quality, certification and export competitiveness.
• Producers cite structural challenges including double taxation, high port and fiscal fees, and rising maritime freight costs.

The Union of the Comoros ranks as the world’s third-largest exporter of cloves after Indonesia and Madagascar. The sector, which serves as the country’s main source of export revenue and household income, faces a severe downturn.

The Comorian government opened the national consultations for the clove sector on Monday, November 17, in Anjouan. The two-day event brings together producers, exporters, institutional representatives and technical partners to discuss challenges and solutions for reviving the industry.

The Ministry of Agriculture said in a statement on its website that discussions focus on improving the quality of local production, certifying products, reorganizing the sector and developing strategies to raise the international visibility of Comorian cloves.

This initiative comes as the sector, which represents nearly 90% of the country’s agricultural exports, recorded weak results over the past two years. Data compiled by the Central Bank of Comoros show that export revenues from cloves fell 53%, sliding from 17.1 billion Comorian francs ($40.2 million) in 2022 to 8.2 billion francs ($19.3 million) in 2024.

Change in export revenues since 2020

Several industry actors attribute the downturn to structural issues, including double taxation on export income, unfair competition from foreign investors, high port and fiscal charges, and elevated maritime freight costs.

These constraints, combined with lower global prices, reduced both export volumes and revenues. The consultations aim to establish the foundations of a national strategy to revive the sector and launch new governance reforms, similar to those introduced for the vanilla sector in October.

This article was initially published in French by Stéphanas Assocle

Adapted in English by Ange Jason Quenum