Ramex was founded in 1973 and is part of the Ramanandraibe Group, itself established in 1927. It is one of the country’s historical and major vanilla exporters.

 IFC, acting for its own account and in its capacity as implementing entity of the Private Sector Window of the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP), is considering investing up to $10.5m in a 3-year short-term export pre-financing facility with annual clean up.

Ramex facilities are located in six cities: Sambava, Antalaha, Ambanja, Andapa, Maroantsetra, Mananara Nord, but all conditioning and packing is done in two centers: Antalaha or Sambava in the SAVA Region, north-eastern Madagascar.

This is a Category B project according to IFC’s Policy on Environmental and Social Sustainability, because potential adverse environmental or social risks and/or impacts are limited, few in numbers, site-specific, largely reversible and readily addressed through mitigating measures aligned to generally recognized performance standards, guidelines, or design criteria.

The environmental and social impacts that are expected to occur are those related primarily to agricultural production. The most significant of these potential impacts are related to labor practices, including child labor, forced labor, and occupational health and safety at operations and its supply chain. Other E&S issues include food safety, potential impacts on biodiversity, and emergency preparedness and response.