Coconut revival taking shape, one tree at a time

A woman sells coconuts at the Mwembe Tayari Market in Mombasa. A report by MESPT on documentation and lessons learnt on coconut value chain interventions in Kilifi and Kwale counties proposed a long-term sector perspective that would provide ample time to allow local communities appreciate the enormous business opportunities presented by the coconut sector. PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Today, the population of the trees has passed the 10 million mark, with a production of 260 nuts each per year, raising the potential even higher.
  • Pauline Akoth, the factory manager at Kentaste Product Kenya Ltd in Kwale, which is processing virgin oil, concurred.
  • Aged trees yield as low as 30 nuts each per year, according to Pole, as opposed to the optimal 100 nuts yield for the local varieties.
  • Other products are nuts, makuti brooms, coco-wood and coir. Palm wine is still embroiled in legality, religious and social image questions.

You can get more than 100 products from a coconut tree, making it a wonder crop with a high potential of making money for farmers.

Indeed, baseline surveys have put the farm-level value of the coconut subsector at more than Sh3 billion.

With a population of 7.4 million trees and from an assessment of the developments in production of the various products from the coconut tree, one survey gave a rough estimate of a much bigger subsector, at Sh20 billion.

Today, the population of the trees has passed the 10 million mark, with a production of 260 nuts each per year, raising the potential even higher.

Yet despite the impressive numbers, the crop has not turned around the fortunes of the coastal people.

Ageing trees, improper farming techniques and poor marketing strategies are the main woes in the subsector. The country has not created a local market, leading to consumption of our coconut products being confined to the Coast.

“This is mainly attributed to lack of awareness on the importance of many products that come from coconut,” Finyanga Pole, a researcher at the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (Kalro) in Matuga, Kwale County, says.

Pole, who is involved in the trial of a new coconut variety, also says too many middlemen eat into farmers’ earnings.

Pauline Akoth, the factory manager at Kentaste Product Kenya Ltd in Kwale, which is processing virgin oil, concurred.

Although the company can process 25,000 nuts a day, it is operating at half its installed capacity due to lack of a ready market for the finished product.

Its organic oil goes to the export market, where competition is very stiff while conventional oil is consumed locally, as many people do not know its health value.

“Most Kenyans do not know the health value of the coconut virgin oil. Largely, they only use it as a cosmetic,” Akoth said.

Aged trees yield as low as 30 nuts each per year, according to Pole, as opposed to the optimal 100 nuts yield for the local varieties.

“Many ageing trees are also being cut down for timber. This has contributed to lower coconut tree population since the rate of replanting is lower than that of cutting down,” Pole said.

PROMOTE PRODUCTION

In 2007, population of coconut trees past the age of optimal productivity of 30 years was 44 per cent, according to baseline survey.

Ann Ngugi, the communication officer at Micro Enterprises Support Programme Trust (MESPT), which has been involved in various coconut value chain projects, says the subsector needs concerted and joint efforts to rescue it from collapse.

The coconut has been the lifeline of the coastal counties – Kwale, Kilifi, Taita-Taveta and Lamu – with 100,000 families depending on the crop for their livelihoods. Instead, a lot of attention is being given to cereals that are not sustainable.

Richard Ndegwa, the head of Nuts and Oil Crops Directorate at the Agricultural and Food Authority (AFA), said that under the Big Four Agenda, the government plans to plant one million new seedlings by 2022 in partnership with the county governments.

“In the last financial year, we distributed 280,000 seedlings, largely in Kwale and Kilifi. We did training with counties and we are also encouraging them to promote production, which is part of their functions,” Ndegwa said.

Investment in value addition in the subsector is very low. Palm wine accounts for about 40 per cent of the total crop value.

Other products are nuts, makuti brooms, coco-wood and coir. Palm wine is still embroiled in legality, religious and social image questions.

Many countries cultivate coconut for its copra, the dried endosperm or kernel, which is further processed into oil for use in the soap industry, cosmetics, candle manufacture and some is refined for edible oil.

The subsector stands to gain if it embraces high-yielding varieties, Ngugi said. MESPT has facilitated the procurement and shipment of 6,000 seed nuts, Ngugi added.

Once mature in two-and-a-half years, this variety will produce 250 nuts per year. “We need to undertake an urgent and deliberate effort to conduct a coconut tree planting campaign to replace the ageing trees. At least a million seedlings should be planted per year,” Pole said.

A report by MESPT on documentation and lessons learnt on coconut value chain interventions in Kilifi and Kwale counties proposed a long-term sector perspective that would provide ample time to allow local communities appreciate the enormous business opportunities presented by the coconut sector, especially in processing.