Ways Coconut Farming Can Boost Govt’s Poverty Reduction

Despite being blessed with favourable climatic conditions, vast arable land and fertile soil, Nigeria’s agricultural potential is still wallowing in neglect, which informs the inability of the nation to meet the demand for agricultural produce for its large populace.

By Daniel.

For decades, a highly nutritional produce with high investment value, coconut, is among the country’s neglected gold mines, despite having the capacity to generate $2.5 billion, create employment and reduce poverty in the country.

Practically, every component of coconut holds value for export and is currently in hot demand all over the world. Coconut could become a major hit for investors as they go into production and export of coconut fruit, coconut oil, co­conut cream, coconut powder and desiccated coconut as well as coconut-shell-based prod­ucts that have a potential export market.

With the huge potential, it is shameful that up to 75 per cent of coconuts in Nigeria market today are imported from Togo, Cameroon, Ghana and Benin Republic despite possessing 98,000 hectares of cultivable fertile lands.

The coconut water has now become one of the fastest growing beverages in the United States, the United Kingdom and other European countries. Reports show that coconut water alone in the drinks category in US was worth over $350 million in 2014, while in UK it was worth £100 million in the same year. Reports also have it that the number of companies that produce beverages with coconut water are on the rise every year.

Some of the health benefits of the coconut water include helping to prevent cancers and heart diseases and aids slimming. Its high potassium property helps prevent strokes, heart attack, hydration and hangovers as well as help to boost the immune system, raise metabolism and reduce heart ­burn.

Ironically, only few farmers are into coconut farming with a minute percentage of them still maintaining the old trees left behind or planted by their forefathers. The commodity has the potential to generate foreign exchange from promoting investment in the coconut sub-sector going by its fast growing local and international markets because there are huge export markets existing in the United States, Europe and Asia.

Nigerians need to invest in coconut tree plantation because the yields are enormous. From the tree and the coconut shell, which is used to generate energy, to the nut from which coconut oil and coconut milk are derived, an investor is bound to keep smiling to the bank.

Recently, it was discovered that Nigeria could make brake pads, paving bricks and clutch discs and others from coconut shell, which are already in use in some parts of the world. The shell of the coconut that was hitherto thrown away was also known to have good economic value and could earn foreign exchange.

The Executive Director, Doublem Enterprises Development Centre, Muhammad Mustafa, said several bye-products like brake pads, paving bricks and clutch discs that could be got from the pulverised coconut shell are just some of the benefits of coconut palms’ value chain addition if proper attention was given to the development of coconut section of the agriculture industry.

Speaking with Daily Sun, Coordinator, Community of Agricultural Stakeholders of Nigeria (CASON), Sotonye Anga, said Nigeria has a lot of comparative advantage in growing a vibrant economy around coconut sub-sector. He said there is need to first appreciate the versatile nature of the commodity called coconut and to understand that everything about coconut is very important and useful.

He hinted that coconut husk is suitable for greenhouse production because it has capacity to absorb a create of nutrition and give it back to the plant, which makes coconut the best natural organic growing and farming medium.

He added: “So as we are looking at establishing more greenhouses, one medium to really consider has to be coconut because it decomposes very easily and that husk alone can be used to support any kind of crop to enrich the soil nutrient and that same husk can also be used as biofuel. And looking at the importance and the usefulness and, of course, the application, we can now derive several industrial products and raw materials from the same product called coconut and we exploit the coconut husk.

“The husk also can be been used to produce fibre like fibre rugs and carpet, which can be used in housing, hotels and office environments. And then we also talk about coconut shells being used as charcoal, which is even better. Instead of cutting down our trees to make charcoal, why not utilise these coconut shells that are wasted to make charcoal,” he added.

Anga who is also the Managing Director of Universal Quest argued that one important thing that cannot be underestimated in the commodity is coconut oil. All over the world, he said coconut oil is seen as natural skin moisturizer and it is very important raw material ingredient in making a whole lot of body lotions and creams.

He explained: “So in cosmetic industry, coconut oil is huge and, of course, in the pharmaceutical industry and medicinally, the application of coconut oil for curative purposes also very huge. So we need to combine all of these and you will see that it is a very important commodity. So what we need to do is boost our coconut production; we need to take our coconut industry seriously for once.

“When you look at agric areas like Badagry, they’ve got a comparative advantage because of ecology in growing a lot of coconuts and have a lot of coconut trees across that axis. When you go towards the Niger Delta inclusive of Cross River State, Delta State, Akwa Ibom and Bayelsa, these are areas where we can basically concentrate coconut production and build coconut economy massively to spur local industry to create employment for our people and reduce Nigeria’s embarrassing poverty as a nation and, of course, fight recession.”