A pile of de-husked coconuts in the foreground. In the background green coconut trees and three farm workers labour in between. © GIZ / Jaime Gallentes

Supporting smallholder coconut farmers in the Philippines

Towards Sustainable Coconut (Oil) Production at Scale Supporting Sector Transformation in the Philippines (Coconut Alliance)

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  • Client

    German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)

  • Country
  • Political sponsors

    More

  • Runtime

    2021 to 2025

  • Involved

    Barry Callebaut, Cargill, FrieslandCampina, JDE Peet’s, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble, Unilever

  • Products and expertise

    Rural development

Context

Coconut oil is an all-rounder. It serves multiple purposes in food, cosmetics, cleaning products, and for technological devices. In 2019, the Philippines harvested 14.77 million metric tons of coconuts, making the country the world’s second largest producer and the top exporter of coconut products to the European Union (EU) in 2020. Despite its status as one of the country’s leading agricultural income sources, local coconut production often faces inefficiencies or fails to meet expected environmental practices.

Farmers contend with challenges such as improper crop management, aging and inefficiently run plantations with little resilience to climate change and extreme weather events, leading to low incomes, limited access to markets, finance, and technical know-how. These conditions make it hard for farmers to produce enough good quality coconut to earn living wages. At the same time, international buyers struggle to meet increasingly high standards and market demand for eco-friendly coconut oil and products. Additionally, the distribution networks for these goods are complex, far-reaching, and lack transparency.

Objective

Coconut production in the Philippines has become more eco-friendly, contributing to landscape-level sustainability. The livelihoods of small holder farmers are improved.

Approach

Building on a previous partnership for eco-friendly coconut oil, this project aims to improve coconut farming in the Philippines. Key activities include:

  • Performing environmental impact assessments using LandScale.
  • Training 110 trainers to subsequently educate 10,000 farmers in business skills and Good Agricultural Practices (GAP).
  • Establishing demonstration farms to showcase best practices.
  • Delivering virtual training for 1,000 agricultural advisors from the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA).
  • Broadcasting a radio programme that reaches 100,000 farmers.
  • Improving transparency in distribution networks.
  • Developing strategies for public-private collaborations.
  • Organising an annual roundtable to integrate project learnings into the Sustainable Coconut Charter.

Last update: May 2024