St Vincent and the Grenadines could see a revitalization of its once-booming coconut industry through the help of the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute-(CARDI).
Representative of CARDI Gregory Linton said over the years the organisation whose main focus is to safeguard food security in the region, decided to partner with the government of SVG to assist in revitalising and resuscitating the coconut industry based on three areas of product development.
A coconut nursery has already been established here with a second one to be implemented at another agricultural station to assist farmers with a variety of coconut plants.
The project which began in 2019 is expected to end in 2023, and it is hoped by that time, that the once-booming industry will experience new growth.
The coconut industry expansion and enhancement support project is being funded by the European Union under the eleventh EDF.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines was once the coconut capital of the Commonwealth. Coconut oil and other coconut-related products were vibrant and booming, with respectable export figures to other countries in the region.
According to a 1997 report, by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), “coconut production formed the base for one of St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ long-standing agroindustries — oil and fats extraction and processing.”
The report went on to state, that “since the mid-1980s, however, the viability of the oils and fat industry has been greatly reduced due to significant reductions in demand for coconut-based products, in response to competition of ‘healthier’ substitutes. “Falling prices for coconut oil-induced declines in tree maintenance and copra production. Increased fragmentation of the large coconut estates and the debilitating effects of the spider mite and red ring diseases, were also serious constraints to the industry’s recovery.”
The report stated further, that, as a result of this, “between 1991 and 1995, St. Vincents sole factory operated below capacity, with output levels insufficient to maintain operations”. In the end, the industry could not supply the regional market; the industry was dead.
Despite the growing global demand for fresh coconut produce in global food & beverage and health & beauty markets, many Caribbean countries continue to face constraints that limit their ability to compete and benefit from this growing market demand.
