Coconut production: Ghana is No.1 in Africa, No. 12 in the world – Otokunor

Director of Presidential Initiatives in Agriculture and Agribusiness, Dr Peter Otokunor, has said that Ghana is number 12 in the world when it comes to coconut production.

He made the point that even though Ghana is number one in Africa, the country is heavily underproducing.
He observed that in Ghana, coconut production can be done everywhere in the country, from the coastline to the savannah,

To that end, he said there can be no excuse not to tap into the 18-billion-dollar global market for coconut.

“As we speak, coconut water alone is worth 5.7 billion dollars annually, and Ghana stands well-positioned to tap heavily into these 5.7 billion dollars,” he told journalists on Tuesday July 8 when he announced that President John Dramani Mahama has directed that 3 million coconut seedlings be distributed to coconut farmers across the country.

Dr Otokunor told journalists on Tuesday, July 8, that this directive formed part of efforts by the Mahama administration to tap into the economic benefits of the coconut industry.

“This is part of HE President John Dramani Mahama’s vision to transform our economy through agriculture, particularly focusing on exportable and tradable commodities. As a part of his vision, HE the President has directed that, to boost the coconut industry, we do an initiative to distribute 3 million seedlings to coconut farmers across the country so as to be able to increase our cultivable space of coconut from 90,000 hectares to 120,000 hectares.

“The medium-term vision is to move it to 150,000 hectares. Currently, we are doing 90,000 hectares. We hope that with these 3 million seedlings, we are able to move that to 110,000,” he said.

Dr Otokunor further stated that the government is going to give these high-value elite seedlings to the growers, some of whom are already commercial farmers.

He also said there are other individuals who are harbouring the intention to venture into coconut farming; all these individuals will be given an unfettered opportunity to have access to the seedlings.

He said, “It is becoming increasingly competitive in the global market, and so countries are planning to embark aggressively on this initiative. Just last week, we saw in the Philippines that the government is embarking on the distribution of about 50 million seedlings. The Philippines is number four in the world when it comes to coconut production, and Ghana is number 12 in the world when it comes to coconut production. Even though we are number one in Africa, we are heavily underproducing. We hold a competitive advantage over peers in the sub-region when it comes to production.”

In Ghana, he said, “everywhere you can grow coconut, from the coastline to the savannah, you can grow coconut. So, it means that if everywhere we can grow coconuts, we have no excuse not to tap into the 18-billion-dollar global market for coconuts. As we speak, coconut water alone is worth 5.7 billion dollars annually, and Ghana stands well-positioned to tap heavily into these 5.7 billion dollars.

“The coconut meat and its adjoining gains in terms of oil and all that are hovering around 5.2 billion dollars. and Ghana holds the most potential to tap into this expert value and also to create jobs, to establish industries.

“In the current transformation agenda of HE, where we are looking at industrialising our economy, one of the key things that will help us industrialise is the active carbon which we get from the coconut husk and the shell.  So, it is important that we invest heavily in this while we plan to embark on accelerated.”

President of the Federation of Coconut Farmers, Kwaku Boateng, thanked President John Dramani Mahama for this initiative.

He urged all coconut farmers to avail themselves to this support as part of measures to boost the industry.

LINK: https://3news.com/business/coconut-production-ghana-is-no-1-in-africa-no-12-in-the-world-otokunor