Regional Meeting on Coconut

A roundtable discussion to look at options to increasing trade in coconut-based products for the Pacific will be held 17 – 18 June, 2009, at Tanoa International, Nadi, Fiji. The two day discussion will focus on the state of the art of coconut processing and market prospects in the Pacific.

The Secretariat of the Pacific Community’s Land Resource Division through its EU-funded Facilitating Agriculture Commodity Trade (FACT) project is collaborating with the Asian and Pacific Coconut Community (APCC) to coordinate the roundtable-discussion meeting for the Pacific countries. The Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research (ACIAR) and the Fiji Coconut Industry Development Authority (CIDA) are also providing support for this roundtable meeting.

Issues to be discussed will include appropriate technologies, quality standards and marketing on the food and non-food coconut-based products. Another key issue for discussion will be the use of coconuts products for fuel, including filtered crude coconut oil as a biofuel for outer islands.

The roundtable discussion will have four major objectives which are:

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  Assess the needs, technology gaps and discuss issues on coconut processing in APCC Pacific member countries and identify appropriate interventions by government, non-governmental organizations, intergovernmental organizations, and international donor agencies ;


• 
  Identify integrated coconut processing models that are technically and economically feasible to small island communities capable of producing value-added coconut products for the local and export market;


• 
  Define appropriate models of transfer of technologies including training of entrepreneurs, women's groups and other capacity building activities;
• 
  Conduct value-chain analysis and define market promotion strategies and activities in the potential markets.

The two day meeting is also expected to map out a research and development plan for the coconut industry in the Pacific Islands.

Apart from participants deliberating on important issues relating to coconut industry, the general public will also be invited to visit Coconut enterprise display booths that will be set up around the meeting venue at the Tanoa International Hotel in Nadi. The display booths will allow the public to discover the various uses of coconut and how best to utilize this readily available resource.

The APCC is the first intergovernmental commodity body to be set up in the region under the auspices of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). APCC is an intergovernmental organization of 15 full member countries, composed of The Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Republic of Kiribati, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vanuatu, and Vietnam.

The EU-funded FACT project aims to sustainably increase the quality and range of exports of Pacific agriculture and forestry products, and to contribute to the integration of the 14 Pacific ACP countries into the regional and global economy.

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