Historically, the countries of the Caribbean have always been concerned with “food security” and its corollary “food production”.  During the  period of Plantation Slavery, for instance,the planters introduced Akee from West Africa and Breadfruit from the Pacific islands to help relieve food shortages among the slaves and ensure greater food security.  Though coconut was well-known in the Caribbean, it was never focused upon as being a major food source. Coconuts only came into prominence as an important food item after the 1860s and this was largely due to its use by the Indian indentured immigrants who had replaced the slaves on the plantations and who had used coconuts in a variety of ways in their native land.  One of their first uses of the coconut was to produce cooking oil.  The oil was used for many other purposes such as a body rub to keep off the deadly malaria mosquito, to dry up bruises and burns, to anoint bodies for pains and even drunk medicinally.  It was widely used in cooking such as making coconut choka and in confectionaries.  Other groups now began to use coconuts in various recipes, for example, making coconut milk for use in metemgee, an African dish.  One universal use of it was, when unripe, to provide a healthy and nutritious drink – coconut water.

To meet the demand which could not be satisfied by the small home cultivations, a few enterprising former indentured workers began to venture into investing in coconut estates where hundreds of trees were grown.  This increase in coconut production provided the opportunity for the industrial production of coconut oil and Wieting and Richter, one of the most prominent firms in 19th and 20th century Guyana, became the main producer of coconut oil. Just as the Indian indentured immigrants had created rice into surplus and export crop, they created coconuts into a surplus crop with a promising export market.  In the 21st century, the demand for coconut products has grown exponentially, especially in the Developed Countries and coconut oil is now regarded as one of the healthiest and most nutritious oils rivalling olive oil.  The world demand for coconut oil keeps growing and presents Guyana with great economic opportunity.
The recently appointed creative and proactive Minister of Agriculture, the Hon. Zulfikar Mustapha, has grasped the importance of the coconut industry and is treating it as an important element in his plans for the diversification of Guyanese Agriculture and for the first time within living memory budgetary allocations have been focused on coconuts: $1.25 billion would be injected into NAREI (National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute) and part of this would be in relation to coconuts.  In Parliament, the Minister reminded colleagues that Hope Coconut Estate, a government investment, would stand to benefit.

The Minister went on to further elucidate his policy in respect to coconuts: “Coconuts is the third most important crop and as such the coconut industry will be given importance by government, promoting expansion in acreages, inter-cropping, utilisation of coconut byproducts and increasing production and productivity,” he said. He then went on to indicate that access would be increased and the cost of coconut planting material would be reduced.  The Ministry would be establishing two coconut nurseries at Charity and Kairuni which would produce 25,000 additional seedlings annually in addition to the planting material provided by Hope Estate.  As important, farmers would be trained under the professional guidance of NAREI to establish their own nurseries. In addition to the above, Minister Hon Zulfikar Mustapha told Parliament: “Technical support would also be provided to farmers in the management of pests and diseases, especially the Red Palm Mite.  NAREI will wean the first batch of 50 invitro coconut plantlets.  This new initiative will allow farmers to have access to clean planting materials”.  With such Ministerial activism and guidance, the coconut industry will certainly be taking off. The coconut industry could grow to be a great foreign exchange earner since the market for coconut and its byproducts is unlimited.  In due course, the nucleus of a Coconut Marketing Board would be established as the industry progresses.