Wakenaam in fight to keep coconut industry alive
Nadir Mustakeen stands next to a pile of coconut which will be shipped off of Wakenaam
Nadir Mustakeen stands next to a pile of coconut which will be shipped off of Wakenaam

-production on the decline

By Ravin Singh

CHARACTERIZED by challenges, with production plummeting significantly due to several factors which can be reversed, the coconut industry on the farming island of Wakenaam is “dying a slow death” farmers have said.

About twenty years ago, Wakenaam was shipping approximately 120,000 coconuts off the island per week. Prices then were not very attractive, according to farmers, but they were still producing, since they used to make an extra dollar from ‘copra’, the kernel of the coconut when taken out and dried to make coconut oil.

Cateram Persaud shelling coconuts which will be used to make coconut oil which will then be sold
Cateram Persaud shelling coconuts which will be used to make coconut oil which will then be sold

However, as time progressed, companies which were buying ‘copra’ began demanding the actual coconut, since the process to make oil from the ‘copra’ was too lengthy. This eventually led to a decline in the production of coconut oil, and that decline came at a time when prices for coconuts were not as attractive as currently obtains. Copra is now being sold for $50 per pound.

The prices for coconuts were also not as high then as it is presently, and despite farmers receiving a handsome $3000 for every hundred coconuts, production continues to tumble. Thus

Wakenaam went from shipping 120,000 coconuts per week to just about 40,000 now. Of this amount, approximately 25,000 are shipped to countries like Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Dominican Republic, and the United States. The remaining 15,000 are sold on the local market.

Foreign buyers are willing to pay higher prices for coconuts due to the shortage, and this has resulted in higher prices being paid locally for the product. But even with the high prices being offered, the production continues to dip, farmers say.

According to large-scale Wakenaam coconut dealer Nadir Mustakeen, a number of factors are to be blamed for this drop in production. He explained that one of the primary causes is that farmers are not adequately tending to their farms, which has resulted in several trickle-down effects, one of which is diseases affecting the plants and farmers not having the “know-how” to treat them.

Years ago, he said, Monocrotophos was used to treat the plants, but it was subsequently banned, and no other form of medication seems to be working.

“If attention is not paid to the coconut industry on this island, it can die a slow death. Farmers need to pay attention to their farms. I know they can make a livelihood off the coconut business,” he adamantly declared.

Another reason for the drop in production, farmers say, is the small labour force. Like coconut production, Wakenaam’s population has been on a steady decline, moving from over 20,000 people twenty years ago to just over 3000 presently. And because of this small population, comprised mostly of women and children, it has become difficult to find people to work on the coconut farms.

Additionally, it was revealed that even though most of the farmers have been in this business for years, they still lack the technical expertise needed to expand their farms and increase production. One point of reference is the fact that farmers continue to “chop-down” healthy branches from coconut trees when they are picking coconuts.

Mustakeen, who also worked with the Ministry of Agriculture in the 1980s, said that this is causing the trees to lose their productivity, and this is another reason for the decline in production over the years.

“When farmers do this, the production status of the tree is lost and the trees are not able to produce as much coconuts as they would have initially.”

He accordingly underscored the need for the Ministry of Agriculture to assist farmers with technical advice and financial support in some regards.

But those are not the only factors hindering the development of the industry. Poor roads on the island and unreliable ferry services contributed significantly to the reduction in production. Farmers are lamenting that these two factors do not encourage them to stay in the industry, and some of them end up venturing into other businesses.

And despite the desperate need for the coconut industry to be revived, farmers do not believe that Wakenaam has the capacity to develop the infrastructure needed to process coconuts into value added products.

One farmer, who identified himself as Boyo, said that converting the coconuts into value added products which could be shipped off the island is not impossible, but a number of conditions need to exist. He pointed out that people would need training on how to make these products competitive on the local, regional and international markets; and he noted that small-scale financing is not available to farmers to help them develop their farms.

Small-scale financing is crucial to the development of the industry, he said. “On the island, there are people who make coconut oil and sell that on a small scale; but to convert coconut to soap and other by-products, people do not know how to do that. So it is going to be difficult to set up a factory like that,” he said.

Boyo was keen to note, though, that such a move could benefit the island in providing employment for residents. However, he explained that it is likely to result in a drop in price for coconuts on the island.

But Chateram Persaud, another small scale farmer who makes coconut oil, is of a converse conviction. He believes that if such a factory were set up, it could encourage farmers to produce more, since there would be an increase in demand locally, more specifically on the island itself. He, too, believes that Government and the private sector should assist farmers in accessing small loans as well as in obtaining technical advice.

Despite these challenges facing the industry though, farmers agree with one thing: the potential for coconut production on the island is very great, and is poised for a “take-off” if attention is given to it. Farmers contend that they cannot do it alone, and it is not only they who would benefit from revival of the coconut industry, but Guyana as a country. In that regard, they are appealing to the relevant authorities to support their efforts in reviving the industry.

Certain coconut trees take about four to five years before they start bearing. Those are called the ‘creole coconut’, or what Guyanese would refer to as “water coconut.” St. Lucian coconut, which is another kind, takes about three years before the tree begins to fully bear. Once the trees begin to bear, farmers hire labourers to go into the fields to pick the coconuts and peel them, after which they are transported to local and overseas buyers.

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