CMIC

The Coconut Farmer’s Association of North Sulawesi, Indonesia, urged the government to facilitate the development of integrated coconut processing in the province as it would improve the welfare of coconut farmers. “The economic condition of most coconut farmers in North Sulawesi is fragile as they rely on one coconut product namely copra”, said George Umpel, Chairman of North Sulawesi Coconut Farmer’s Association. He added that “when the copra price drops the coconut farmers will lose money. The situation will be different if the coconut farmers have capabilities to produce various coconut products, when copra price dives they can produce other profitable products.”

The copra price in Manado is now down to Rp.6,000 (US$ 0.7)/kg from Rp.10,000 (US$1.14) in last few months. According to George, coconut farmers in North Sulawesi has been processing copra for a long time and need to diversify their product. The government should help them to do it through an integrated coconut processing strategy. With this processing strategy, coconut farmers will be motivated to produce various value added products which will eventually improve their income and welfare. (http://beritamanado.com/bisnis-ekonomi)