Transcript
KAREN MAPUSUA: There's a range of things to develop, I mean copra is still important and will, no doubt, remain important, but there is also virgin coconut oil which is a higher value oil used a lot in the cosmetic industry, but also as an edible oil. There's also a range of things that we could do with the timber or the husk of the coconuts which might be worth investigating. There's also the niche products dairy replacements - so non-dairy ice cream made with coconut cream, or yoghurt, cheese, a whole range of those products that could well be worth investigating. And, of course, there's coconut water which has really taken off internationally as a health drink and a sports drink. So there's also local value chains into the tourism industry for fresh coconuts. A lot of areas that we really haven't thoroughly developed and all the opportunities that are there.
BEN ROBINSON-DRAWBRIDGE: So there are Pacific examples of people producing coconut water and coconut milk - things that could spread to other countries in the Pacific?
KM: Yes there are. We've got quite a few boutique i guess you would call them, businesses now, covering a range of different products. You've got a few small businesses here in Fiji doing a range of fantastic coconut ice cream just in the local market. We've got quite a few different companies across the region doing virgin coconut oil and value-adding on to cosmetics. We have some people just starting to do some work around core products in Vanuatu, so there's a lot we can learn and share amongst ourselves.
BRD: Where would you hope investment might come from to expand the development of these products?
KM: Well it will all come from the private sector. The private sector really is the engine of growth and will seize opportunities when they were there. So I guess the purpose of a development intervention like this is to help identify those opportunities and those needs and build those private/ public partnerships to get those off the ground. I would also imagine that, possibly, some of our development partners would also be interested in supporting the sector in different areas... if [there is] is solid evidence and a solid road map moving forward that we can then see the success at the end and benefit to the farmers, which is a really key outcome that we're looking for through this project.
BRD: What about some of the constraints that some of the coconut growers are facing, I'm thinking of things like the rhinoceros beetle.
KM: Yeah, they're really big challenges. The Pacific community at the moment is really working with a range of our partners to try and get a comprehensive response, in particular, to the rhino beetle. But also to other issues that the industry has. We haven't been planting coconut trees in a systematic way for a very long time. So once we try to identify markets and demand grows, we really need to get ready for the time in a few years when we need to get that supply up. So this is one of the drivers behind the value chain approach - to really identify all those strengths and weaknesses and then we can put in the interventions to address each of them.
