The Asia pacific Coconut community, an intergovernmental organization of eighteen countries from the region held their forty ninth session and ministerial meeting for four days in the picturesque Fiji islands. It was four days of very intense discussions on the political economy of coconuts, the difficulties faced by primary producers on account of depressed prices and the continuous challenge from the plantation based palm oil , the impact of climate change on vegetation in the member countries, especially of islands and atolls, diversifying the use of coconut from copra and positioning it as a ‘health drink’ and nutrition supplement and in the cosmetics industry. It was also four days of getting to know a very diverse set of people – from the Kingdom of Tonga to Isles of Micronesia , the South east Asian tigers –Malaysia and Indonesia – with robust coconut industry besides observers from Kenya and Jamaica (from outside the region). There were papers from FAO and IFAD, as also from the South pacific Community and the Australia centre for International co-operation in Agriculture. There were field visits to communities and village institutions as also to commercial establishments which were utilizing copra and coco trunk for furniture. Last but not the least; the group participated in the launch of the ‘one million coconut trees’- an initiative of the government of Fiji to ensure good quality plants in the countryside for ecology, livelihoods and economic growth.
But first about the APCC. This Jakarta (Indonesia) based inter-governmental organization has sixteen members viz, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, India,Indonesia,Kiribati, Malaysia, Marshall islands,Paupa New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Solomon Islands,Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, Vietnam and Vantau and Jamaica and Kenya as Associate members , without voting rights. The APCC provides a platform for the exchange of commercial, scientific and technical information on all aspects of coconut production and use, besides engaging in dialogue with UN and other multilateral agencies to promote the sustainable growth of the commodity.
Through its annual reports and technical journals, and its website, it gives a snapshot of everything on this commodity. The Annual report showed that of the world coconut production (copra terms) of 10.48 M MT, over 80% was produced by the member countries. The projections for the next year were even higher: better rainfall distribution in South and South East Asia could yield up to 11.20 M MT. However as with most agricultural commodities, higher production was not necessarily good news because the prices of coconut oil (the main determinant of raw material prices at the farm gate) had registered a sharp decline from US$1500 /MT (CIF Rotterdam) to US$ 820/MT from January to November. True, there had been a marginal rise from November to January, and prices were now in the range of US$900/MT – but the fact that this had led to the financial ruin of many primary producers. The forecast for 2013 was also grim: prices would be in the range of US$780-850/MT on account of economic slowdown in EU, and the growing competition from palm oil. (At times like this, one realizes the advantages of being in a country like India where the MSP mechanism is activated almost automatically, and Adjournment motions are tabled in the Parliament, and the Coconut Development Board is asked to draw out a clear cut strategic intervention plan).
The prognosis for desiccated coconut, coir products, Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO), coconut water and Activated Carbon (AC) was better – in fact these products may well be the saving grace for the coconut producers. While desiccated coconut and coir products have been making steady progress in the diversification portfolio, what has really made a difference is the increasing salience of AC, Virgin coconut oil and coconut water.
The world demand for AC, an essential ingredient in the beverage industry, and for mercury removal in coal fired plants was growing at 10% per annum, and this offered a good opportunity for India, Indonesia, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Malaysia to step up the production of this coconut shell based product. Of course the scale of operations made it difficult for the Pacific islanders to participate in the AC business – but they had an advantage in the virgin coconut oil and the coco water sectors.
The exports of VCO had gone up from 100 MT in 2003 to 4000 MT by 2012, and represented the ‘sunshine sector ‘of the coco world. It had become a rage in the ‘cosmetic and nutraceutical sectors’ and the scale was such that even the smaller Pacific Islands could optimize the potential.
Last but not the least was coconut water- with US, Europe and the Middle East projecting a demand that producers were finding difficult to meet. This was perhaps the reason for Tetrapack joining the deliberations and showcasing its technology, including financing options for ‘long life coco water’. Your columnist has his reservations on the use of Tetrpack on account of its long term carbon footprints – but his point of view did not find much favour among the participants, who pointed out that Tetrapacks used in coco water would not exceed even one percent of the total Tetra pack use even if the 10 million litres was bottled every year!
After the global scenario of coconut production, each country had to make a country presentation. India’s country presentation focused not just on production figures, which in any case are quite impressive, but on the strategy of organizing coconut producers into Coconut producer societies and federations to leverage technologies of scale and scope, and to ensure that the dependence on copra and coconut oil is minimized. India clearly recognizes the need of ensuring that the bulk of the production is used as coconut, rather than as copra, with the exception of organic copra that grows naturally in the Nicobar and Lakshadweep sands. Fortunately for India, the burgeoning middle class offers a great market for bottled coconut water, and the diverse range of coconut products. India’s expertise in this sector is in high demand throughout the world, and the Coconut Development Board at Kochi is going to be inundated with requests for providing training and expertise on coconuts across the globe!