By Daniel Essiet

Lagos State is seeking private sector support to increase the value of coconut value chain from the present N76 billion to N350 billion yearly.

One of the objectives of the state’s coconut value chain development plan  is to have 10 million active and productive coconut trees for sustainable supply of raw materials to industries.

Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms. Abisola Olusanya Olusanya, reiterated the state was determined to advance the dream of a competitive  industry  to meet rising demand for coconut and its derivatives.

She spoke at a  forum organised by the Lagos Ministry Agriculture in collaboration with Lagos State Coconut Development Authority (LASCODA).

The theme of the forum is tagged: “Addressing the Bottlenecks in the coconut value chain to ensure sustainable development in a 21st Century economy”.

Sher noted that the tremendous demand for coconuts and its by-products, such as coconut water and coconut oil is a clear opportunity for the state.

To achieve this, she said the government was seeking to collaborate with private growers to boost the supply of coconuts for the industry.

Read Also: Lagos Assembly begins audit of 57 councils

She added that what the government wanted from stakeholders   was support on broad areas of improvement for the coconut industry: supply of productive coconut trees and farmers’ productivity and access to technology.

Earlier, the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture, Mr. Hakeem Adeniji, said the state government was ready to encourage commercialisation of coconut for local and export markets.

He reiterated the commitment of the government to support coconut farmers, processors, marketers, haulage operators, producers among others on food security, job and wealth creation and tourism.

“Coconut grows naturally along the coastal terrain and cultivated in about 92 countries of the world including India, Indonesia, Philippines, Sri-Lanka and Nigeria.

“Seventy per cent of the total production from Nigeria is produced in Lagos State and ranks Nigeria 19th in the World Coconut producing countries.’’

“In addition, close to 80 per cent of the coconut value chain activities, especially in the area of supply of improved seedlings to Commercial Coconut Growers in other 26 Coconut producing States of Nigeria is currently being driven from and by Lagos State.

“The state is naturally blessed with a vast Coconut Belt embedded with abundance of Coconut resources and it has comparative advantages over other crops in the country at large.

“It has about 3Million trees with annual production of 200 Million husked nuts while about 20,000 small scale farming families derive their livelihood from it and the number increases daily,” he said.

Adeniji said that the United Nations Food Agriculture Organisation (FAO) had said there was a yearly 20 per cent increase in Coconut production in Nigeria, as well as, increase in global demand for coconut products by 500 per cent within the last decade.

Specifically, Lagos State Government has been involved in the rehabilitation of the coconut belt and production of improved Coconut seedlings.

In a communiqué released at the end of the forum, stakeholders called on the Nigeria Institute for Oil-Palm Research (NIFOR) and other research institutes to conduct continuous research and development on improved varieties of coconut with lesser gestation period.

The stakeholders discussed several issues relating to unleashing the potentials of the coconut value chain, which include low production, old plantation.

Ms Abisola Olusanya presented the 19-point resolution at the end of the forum.

Other resolutions include the need to encourage intercropping with other arable crops such as pineapple, cotton, maize, soya beans to ensure quick returns and the need to rebrand Coconut in order to attract youths to the Value Chain.

“Provide an enabling environment for Public Private Partnership with the private sector and other individuals; Encourage planting of Coconut tree in our homes and environment and Establishment of tissue culture lab for growing viable planting materials.

“Collaboration between NIFOR and LASCODA in providing planting materials; trade issues and land issues can be facilitated by the Federal Min of Industry, Trade and Investment and partners and Increase sensitisation on the health, economic and environmental benefits of coconut.”

The stakeholders also called for a strong partnership with the Nigeria Agribusiness and Agro-Industry Development Initiative for the development of the Value Chain; increased daily consumption of Coconut and the setting up of a committee for the replacement of old Coconut palms.

They also urged families with land to allocate their lands through an MOU for the production of Coconut; called on the Lagos State University Research Institute to work with NIFOR on research in the production of Coconut as well as the identification of key entry points of Coconut into the Country.

The stakeholders also called for a closed-door meeting with the Customs and security agencies to proffer a sustainable solution to the challenges of border transportation.

“To also conduct a baseline study of the entire value chain to understand the operations within the Coconut Industry to ensure ease of doing business; Synergy among MDAs in the Coconut Value Chain Development.

“Rehabilitation of the coastal line through partnership with the private sector and establishment of a standard operating procedure on the importation of Coconut,” the Communiqué reads.