Oh, no…a shortage of coconuts?!

Sep 11, 2016 News

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By Leonard Gildarie

We are a blessed country when it comes to our natural resources.

Not only do we have fertile lands, we have our forests, fish – from freshwater and from the Atlantic; we have our gold and bauxite and now there is talk of rare earth.
We have rice and fresh foods and there is no worry about fresh water.
Yet we have been unable to harness this potential in a big way. We have struggled with our marketing, with farmers heavily dependent on millers and a few Government agencies like the Guyana Rice Development Board to do it for them.
I have spoken about the need for our overseas missions to play a bigger role in marketing our country, its products and services. We are not about sun and sand, but we do have some unique nature resorts. We only have to look at the success story of Costa Rica, which has marketed its natural beauty to become one of the world’s hottest tourist destinations.
We have our award-winning rums. We have cheap labour, so the call centres have come knocking.
Two days ago, there was a Bloomberg report of the Caribbean running short of coconuts. Really? We seem to be wasting it here. We have been hearing of exporters buying up coconuts like crazy.
Coconut water at one time was struggling, but a resurgence in health awareness of the tremendous benefits from this cool drink, has seen sales through the roof. It does make a good drink with vodka, too.
According to Bloomberg, rich-world consumers have never been keener on the coconut. Starbucks wants the tropical fruit’s milk for lattes, while Bajan-born superstar Rihanna promotes its water as a trendy sports drink. The price of coconut oil has jumped more than 50 percent in the past year.
The older folks will remember coconut oil in the 80’s. It was used for cooking and even for the hair.
Then came the news from research that the oil was high in cholesterol. The coconut industry took a deep plunge and only came up for air within the last eight years or so. People would look at you with disdain if it was known that you used coconut oil. But all that has changed for the good. And it is steaming ahead.
All over Guyana, exporters are buying up coconut like crazy for export. It is a public secret of how much money is being made.
But the demand is seeing the Caribbean not being able to keep up, for a number of reasons.
Storms, droughts and diseases have decimated entire farms.
Farmers have failed to plant new trees, or use fertilizers to improve yields. Caribbean plantations have shrunk by about 17 percent since 1994, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization.
The Bloomberg report quoted Compton Paul, coordinator of a regional coconut programme at the Trinidad-based Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute, as saying that the Caribbean is running out of coconuts.
The news is bad in the Dominican Republic, where production dropped about 60 percent in two decades. It is clear that the industry’s woes are not about the quantity, but rather on the fact that new trees are needed.
The coconut tree is such a blessed one. Its branches are used to make brooms while the milky liquid in the young fruit is ideal for a hot day. The older nuts produce a kernel that is in hot demand for the oil and milk.
In Guyana, coconut is a must for hot dishes like cook-up and broth.
Bloomberg reported that the sale of coconut water is on track to become a US$4 billion industry by 2019, according to Technavio, a research company.
All Market Inc., the industry pioneer which began selling leading brand Vita Coco in 2004, now cracks about 1.6 million nuts a day, and can claim Rihanna and actor Matthew McConaughey among its celebrity investors.
What is worrying for Guyana and the coconut industry is that other countries are stepping in to meet demand. Worldwide, farmers have increased the amount of land planted with coconuts by 14 percent since 1994, according to the UN. Indonesia, the Philippines and India are the top producers.
It’s not the first time a developing-country staple has been caught up in a first-world food trend. Farmers who grow the finest coffees often can’t afford a bag of their roasted beans. And when protein-rich quinoa caught fire in the U.S., many consumers in Bolivia, one of the biggest producers, were priced out.
Bloomberg quoted Melvin Bautista, who owns Coco Express del Caribe, one of the leading domestic coconut-water brands in the Dominican Republic. He says he can barely obtain the supplies he needs, as farmers sell to exporters instead, and has raised prices for a 16-ounce bottle by 20 percent this year, to about $1.50. Local farms are mostly “in very bad shape and the trees are very old.”
There’s only one solution, Bautista says: “Start planting more coconuts.”
In Guyana, our local authorities have been raising awareness. We have many rice farmers who are tearing their hair out from the low prices. They have lands. We have a demand. Maybe we should employ a phased approach of planting some three-year trees to help the diversification process. How about our sugar lands? Hope Estate on the East Coast Demerara, which was once a big name in coconuts, should help lead the way.
So there you have it. We do happen to have some golden opportunities.
The oil production that is set to start in four years’ time will also be a golden opportunity.
We have to; we must strike a good deal for this country. Local input must be pushed for to help create jobs.

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